


Spacemon: A Pokemon Tabletop Story

by DisturbedShadow



Series: Spacemon - A Pokemon Tabletop Story [2]
Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types
Genre: Action, Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Dark, Alternate Universe - Space, Artificial Intelligence, Betrayal, Bounty Hunters, Character Death, Children, Conspiracy, Cybernetics, Dark, Death, Depression, Exploration, F/F, F/M, Falling In Love, Feels, Female Friendship, Female Protagonist, First Love, Foreshadowing, Gen, Government, Gritty, Hackers, Heist, Homelessness, Laboratories, Legendary Pokemon - Freeform, Lesbian Character, Love, Mad Scientists, Major Original Character(s), Male Friendship, Male Protagonist, Male-Female Friendship, Mercenaries, Military, Minor Character Death, Original Universe, Orphans, Outer Space, POV Female Character, POV First Person, POV Male Character, POV Minor Character, POV Multiple, POV Original Character, POV Third Person, Past Tense, Plot Twists, Pokeball(s), Pokemon - Freeform, Pokemon Battle, Pokemon Death, Pokemon Fanfiction, Pokemon Gym, Politics, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Poverty, Present Tense, Redemption, Religion, Revenge, Role-Playing Game, Romance, Science, Science Experiments, Science Fiction, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Space Battles, Space Exploration, Space Flight, Space Opera, Space Pirates, Space Stations, Spaceships, Suicide, Suicide Attempt, Tabletop RPG, Team, Team Bonding, Team Dynamics, Teamwork, Teen Angst, Teen Romance, Teenagers, Trauma, space travel, tabletop role-playing game
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-04-23
Updated: 2018-02-20
Packaged: 2018-05-31 13:56:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 90
Words: 344,349
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6472693
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DisturbedShadow/pseuds/DisturbedShadow
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Spacemon is a sci-fi space epic based on a Pokemon tabletop RPG campaign played using the Pokemon Tabletop United (PTU) system! It follows a group of Pokemon trainers as they travel the Galaxy, working to stop a dark conspiracy and uncover the true origin of life. Spacemon takes place in an original Pokemon setting cooked up by the GM. It is the distant future of what was essentially modern real-world Earth, except with Pokemon instead of animals. Humanity ended up destroying the planet, and fled Earth aboard massive life ships with many different Pokemon. Not all the life ships made it, but those that did eventually grew into four galactic Powers: the United Alliance, the Romanov Union, the Geneva Confederacy, and the Sinai Ascendancy. These powers spread their influence across the Galaxy, and eventually their borders met making contact with Humans from other life ships for the first time in centuries. After a period of instability, the four factions eventually formed the Federation, establishing a period of peace during which Humanity expanded outward, exploring the Outer Rim and settling new worlds. It has been a few hundred years since the establishment of the Federation and the story is about to begin!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Origin Story 1: The Parisian Job

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, and welcome to Spacemon, the tale of a Pokemon TRPG campaign! The initial run of the campaign was from September 2014 through December 2015, broken down into three volumes (one for each of the semesters the campaign lasted for), and all 34 sessions have been written up along with many other side stories and spin-offs, totaling up to 80 installments so far! I hope you enjoy joining me on this journey through space!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The renowned bounty hunter team known as the Red Suns take on a suspicious job.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This particular entry was an origin story I wrote for my player character after the end of the second volume and it has since served as the prologue for this series.

“Target is on ze move,” the smooth French voice of Rena Bordeaux sounds in Arlon’s ear. “I cannot get a clean shot. Zere are too many civilians.”

“I’ve got eyes on him,” Arlon speaks into his earpiece as he moves through the crowd. “He’s headed for the mag-train stop. I’m in pursuit.”

“Arlon, stay on him. But keep your distance,” Lars Rickets’ voice instructs him. “We don’t want to tip him off.”

“I know the drill, boss,” Arlon replies as he follows the target inside the mag-train stop. “He’s getting on the southbound train.”

“I want you on that train,” Lars tells him, “Rena, I’m coming to pick you up. We’ll follow the train from above. Kiril, Devlin, I want you at the next two stops.”

“We’re on our way,” replies the gruff voice of Kiril Zhukov.

“I’m on the train,” Arlon says into his earpiece as he takes a seat, eying his target on the other end of the car.

“Excellent,” says Lars. “Stay out of sight and let us know if he does anything.”

“I know the drill. The bastard doesn’t even know we’re on him.”

As the mag-train flies along the skyline of the Alliance metropolis world of Cacia, Arlon watches his target, who still remains unaware of his presence. The Red Suns had been contracted to apprehend Ward Pezal, a hitman suspected in dozens of assassinations across the Galaxy, and had tracked him here to Cacia.

The train passes by the next several stops, but Pezal remains seated. Lars continues to direct Kiril and Devlin down the line as he and Rena follow from above, but it seems to Arlon that Pezal intends to remain on the train. Suddenly the hitman locks eyes with him and flashes him a wicked grin. The man gets up from his seat and begins to make his way to the back of the train.

Arlon immediately jumps up and quickly moves to follow. “He’s on the move,” Arlon says into his earpiece. “The bloody bastard knew we were on him the whole time. He’s headed for the back of the train. I’m in pursuit.”

“Be careful,” Rena warns him.

Arlon arrives at the back of the train to find himself face-to-face with Pezal. “You’ve got nowhere to run, mate.” he tells the hitman.

“I beg to differ,” Pezal replies calmly. He presses a switch in his hand and the back door to the train explodes behind him. Arlon reaches for his pistol but he’s too late. Pezal jumps off the back of the train and onto the track.

“He jumped off the bloody train!” Arlon shouts over the comms. “I’m going after him!” He runs down the length of the train car and leaps out the back onto the track. Arlon sprints down the track toward Pezal, quickly making up the ground.

“Don’t move,” Arlon tells the hitman as he aims his pistol at him.

“You’re too late,” Pezal tells him with a laugh. He looks down to the ground miles beneath the mag-train rail and then back to Arlon. “You’re just another bounty hunter who failed to bring me in.” He leans backward and drops off the track as a Golurk swoops in to pick him up.

“No you don’t!” Arlon shouts as he runs for the edge. He leaps off after Pezal as he pulls out a Pokeball. “Spitfire!” He presses the button and releases his Charizard beneath him. He lands on the Pokemon’s back and nudges him after the falling target.

Spitfire pulls his wings in and dives straight down at the hitman as he lands on his Golurk. The ghost Pokemon fires up its rockets and flies away.

“After him!” Arlon orders his Charizard. With a giant push from his wings, Spitfire takes off after Pezal at full speed. “Use Fire Blast!” The Charizard exhales a massive ball of flames at Pezal and his Golurk as he pursues them.

In response, the Golurk’s rockets fire off with even more thrust, putting some distance between itself and Arlon and his Pokemon. Before it manages to get away with its trainer, a large ball of shadowy energy slams into it.

“I’ve got your back, Arlon,” Rena’s voice sounds in Arlon’s earpiece. He looks up to see Rena’s Metagross floating in the air in front of the Golurk.

“Nice save, Rena,” Arlon tells her. He then nudges Spitfire forward toward Pezal. “Now, use Shadow Claw!” Arlon commands the Charizard.

With another thrust from his wings, Spitfire closes the distance with Pezal and his Golurk and swipes at them with his sharp claws. The attack makes contact with the Pokemon and deals a nasty blow, tearing right through its armor. Pezal commands his Golurk to counterattack, but Arlon’s Pokemon easily dodges out of the way. While it’s distracted, Rena’s Metagross gets off another Shadow Ball. Surprisingly, the Pokemon manages to take the hit.

“Finish him off with Air Slash!” Arlon commands Spitfire. The Charizard makes a hard turn and launches a slicing blast of air at Pezal’s Golurk, knocking it out. Pezal and his Golurk begin to fall, but Arlon nudges Spitfire down at full speed. The Charizard dives hard and grabs Pezal out of the air.

Prize in hand, Arlon and his Pokemon fly to the ground to meet up with the others. Another job well done.

* * *

Lars Rickets sits in the captain’s seat on the empty bridge of the of the _UAS Corsair_ , the Red Suns’ Alliance-make heavy frigate, staring off into the vast vacuum of space as his ship drifts along. As he watches the the sparkling stars in the distance, he reflects on his team’s recent operations.

After collecting the bounty on Pezal, the Red Suns hadn’t seen much action. The jobs they had run in the time since had been rather trivial: protecting private shipments, chasing down smalltime bounties, and the like. But money is money, and the Red Suns are in a bit of a tight spot financially. They have to keep making ends meet somehow, even if that means taking on such menial, low paying jobs.

Lars is pulled out of his thoughts when a flashing light appears on the console, signifying an incoming call. Lars presses the answer button on his armrest and a man appears on the screen.

“Greetings, _UAS Corsair_ ,” the man says. “I would like to speak with your captain.”

“You’re talking to him,” Lars responds. “How can I help you?”

“My employer would like to hire you and your men for an upcoming operation. He is willing to pay a… _handsome_ reward.”

“Go on,” Lars tells him, intrigued by the proposition.

“There is a data package that my employer would very much like to get his hands on. It is currently located here.” A set of coordinates and blueprints of an Outer Rim mining facility appear on the screen. “Gigan Station, located in Sector 25.”

“What are the details.”

“You and your men are to board the station and secure the package. No witnesses. No survivors. Once you depart, destroy the station.”

“You realize that what you are asking is highly illegal?” Lars asks.

“As I said, my employer is offering a handsome reward.”

“I am afraid your employer is… _misinformed_ in regard to who we are. We are respectable bounty hunters, not some rabble of pirates and murderers.”

“My employer is prepared to pay you upwards of one-and-a-half-million credits.”

“I’ve made up my mind. No amount of money can buy my code of honor. Goodbye.” Lars hangs up the call, a sour expression on his face.

“That sounded like a perfectly reasonable deal to me.” Lars turns to see Devlin Garth standing behind him. “Not takin’ that job was a bad call.”

“Son, we’ve been through this before,” Lars says as he stands to speak with Devlin. “There are certain lines we will not cross, even if we need the money.”

“But we wouldn’t even be in this mess if you were more willin’ to do what’s necessary fer survival.”

“There is no point in surviving if you have to sacrifice your ideals in the process. We are not taking that job and that’s final.” Lars briskly walks off the bridge, passing by Arlon on his way.

“Yer makin’ a mistake,” Devlin grumbles to himself.

“What was that all about?” Arlon asks him.

“Mind yer own business,” Devlin responds as he fiddles with the comms.

“You were at his throat again, weren’t you, mate?” Arlon asks as he sets himself down in the pilot’s seat.

“I said mind yer own damn business.”

“Alright, no need to be such a bloody wanker about it,” Arlon responds. _What’s his problem?_ he thinks.

* * *

Arlon sits alone on the bridge of the _Corsair_ watching the gases of the nebula swirl around the ship through the viewport. The Red Suns had just gotten off yet another low paying bounty; the third one this week. Money remains the key issue for the team of bounty hunters. It had been quite some time since they had received well paying job.

However, that isn’t really what has been troubling Arlon. Devlin Garth is his main concern. He had never liked the guy, but lately he had been more trouble than he’s worth. He was too violent for Arlon’s taste, too ruthless. Given the choice, he would always go for a kill over a capture. To Devlin, dead or alive just means dead.

Those are the least of Arlon’s problems with the man. He’s gunning hard to take over after Lars retires, showing himself to be greedy and power hungry. For years now, Devlin had been urging Lars to expand the Red Suns into far more illegal operations: arms dealing, credit mining, _piracy_. While Lars had always been opposed to these ideas, the fear that Devlin may one day take over the Red Suns and expand into these other activities continues to gnaw away at Arlon. He fancies himself to be a far better candidate to take over for Lars, but remains unsure if the man will pick him over Devlin.

Arlon is pulled from his brooding when he hears the sound of someone walking up behind him. He turns back to see Lars walking onto the bridge. The Red Suns commander sits down in the captain’s chair and activates the comms. “Everyone, come to the bridge. It’s time to talk business,” he announces.

“We got another job?” Arlon asks, swiveling his chair around to face Lars.

“A big one,” Lars tells him.

“About time. How big are we talking?”

“Two-hundred-thousand credits…”

“I thought you said this was a big-”

“Each.”

“...Job… Wow.”

“Did you just say two-hundred-thousand each?” Rena asks as she walks onto the bridge. Devlin and Kiril follow closely behind.

“I did,” Lars tells her.

“One-million credits?” Arlon asks, still in disbelief. “One-million bloody credits? What the hell is this job anyway?”

Lars presses a button and a picture of a Federation official appears on the viewscreen. “This is Konstantin Schroeder, the Federation’s Director of Economic Provision. He’s our target.”

“Target? For what?” Arlon asks.

“We’re being paid to kidnap him,” Lars explains.

“What for?” Arlon asks him.

“Yer certainly askin’ a lot of questions,” Devlin snidely remarks

“Well, I want more bloody details on this job.”

“Our employers were not too forthcoming with that information,” Lars explains.

“This whole business is rather shady, innit?” Arlon asks.

“I’m inclined to agree with you, but…” Lars trails off as he looks over at the viewscreen again. “This is just a simple snatch and grab operation and the money is too good to turn down. We’d be crazy not to take this job.”

“I still don’t like it.”

“You don’t have to like it,” Lars tells him sternly. “We need this job.”

“Alright, alright. Where are we headed?”

“Parisia. Schroeder is going to be there to discuss funding with Genevan officials in the city of Calais. That’s where we’ll strike. We’ll be able to take him on route to the capitol building from the hotel he’s staying at.”

“Zis sounds simple enough,” Rena chimes in.

“Exactly,” Lars agrees, “If we play our cards right, we can be in and out before anyone knows what happened. Arlon, set a course for Parisia. We can review the plan on the way.”

“Yes, boss,” Arlon says as he swivels his chair back around. He plots a course and then jumps into warp space on route toward the nearest warp gate.

* * *

As the _Corsair_ flies through warp space on route to Parisia, Arlon takes some time to relax in his personal quarters. He lies on his back on his bed, contemplating the upcoming job. Something about it just seems off to him. The door suddenly slides open and he glances over to see Rena in the doorway. “You alright?” she asks as she steps into the room.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Arlon tells her as he sits up. “I’m just not sure about this job. Something about it just doesn’t sit right with me.”

“You know Lars wouldn’t ‘ave taken it if he didn’t 'ave a good reason.”

“I know, I know. It’s just that… I don’t know, I can’t shake the feeling that something’s not right about it. Who would want to kidnap this Schroeder guy anyway? And why all the secrecy? I don’t like it.”

“I think maybe you need to take a nice long break after zis job is all over,” Rena tells him with a chuckle. “I know I could use one.”

“Tell me about it. I think I’ll go fucking mental if I have to spend any more time on this ship without a bloody vacation.”

“With all ze money we are getting for zis job, I’m sure Lars will be giving us some shore leave. Maybe we can go someplace nice. Just ze two of us.

“Ha, you don’t really strike me as the romantic type,” Arlon says with a laugh.

Rena places a finger on Arlon’s lips, as if telling him to be quiet. “You talk too much sometimes,” she says playfully as she pushes him back onto the bed.

“You know you love it,” Arlon responds as he pulls her down into an embrace. “Now come on, we don’t have much time before we get to Parisia.”

* * *

The _Corsair_ drops out of warp space in the core system of the Geneva Confederacy. The brilliant light of Europa reflects off the orange rings of Gaia as the ship approaches its destination. Arlon is temporarily blinded by the star’s light before he steers the frigate toward the moon Parisia, one of the many capitol worlds of the Genevan states in orbit around the gas giant. As the ship moves closer, the moon eclipses the light.

“Isn’t it beautiful?” Rena asks Arlon as she walked onto the bridge. “It ‘as been quite a while since I ‘ave been back ‘ere.”

“Indeed,” Arlon agrees. “Much nicer than the planet I come from. There was nothing but bloody fields as far as the eye could see. Leaving that place was the best damn choice I ever made.”

“But at least you did not grow up in ze slums,” Rena says with a laugh.

“Yeah, yeah. At least you had some nice sights to look at.”

“We ‘aint here to see the sights,” says Devlin as he joins the two on the bridge. “Ya’ll know that.”

“Here to piss on the mood again, Garth?” Arlon asks.

“Just makin’ sure yer focused on the mission.”

“Why the hell wouldn't I be? It’s only my bloody job, innit?”

“Now, now boys,” says Rena, trying to break up the hostilities. “No need to fight.”

“Rena’s right,” Lars tells them as he walks onto the bridge. The Red Suns’ leader calmly looks at his crew. “We’ve got enough to worry about on this mission without the two of you at each other’s throats.”

“Got it,” Arlon responds before returning his focus to piloting as the Corsair breaks through the atmosphere.

Arlon flies the ship over Parisia’s beautiful Azure Sea on approach to Calais, one of the sprawling megatropolises covering a large portion of the planet. They are still a good ways out, the massive skyscrapers protruding above the horizon. The ship’s powerful engines quickly close the gap and before long the Corsair is soaring above the city, the many towering structures adorned with lush rooftop gardens. The skyline of Calais is truly a sight to behold.

* * *

Arlon sets the ship down on a landing platform miles above the surface of the planet and the Red Suns gather in the ship’s “war room” to review the plan for the mission.

“In case you’ve forgotten,” Lars tells the team. “The target is Konstantin Schroeder, the Federation’s Director of Economic Provision. He’s visiting Parisia to discuss funding with Genevan officials here in Calais. We need to take him alive,” he adds, looking around at his crew to make sure they understand.

“Right,” says Arlon, glancing over at Devlin, who he knows would be the most likely to kill a target given the option.

“The plan is to grab him en route to the capitol building from his hotel. Arlon and I will intercept the Schroeder’s vehicle here,” Lars continues, pointing to a point on the map.

“How do we know he’ll pass that way?” Arlon asks.

“It’s the most direct route from the hotel to the capitol. They have no reason to suspect anything and, therefore, no reason to take another route. We will intercept them at this point, using Salamence and Charizard. Riding our Pokemon will allow us to outmaneuver them. Arlon and I will board the vehicle and secure Schroeder. Rena will be on overwatch on this rooftop here.”

“Not a problem,” Rena chimes in.

“I will take Schroeder on Salamence and Arlon will pick up Rena with Charizard. Then we will fly to the rendezvous point here, which Kiril and Devlin will have secured. They will be waiting with our vehicle to quickly transport us back to the _Corsair_. We will be long gone from Parisia before anyone knows what happened. Any questions? No? Good. Let’s move.”

The aging bounty hunter steps away from the table, adjusts his hat, and turns to begin arming up for the mission. While he may be getting on in years, Lars’s mind is as sharp as ever and he commands the respect of his team just by being in their presence. His brilliant strategies had seen the Red Suns through many tough jobs, and secured them many high rewards. The man’s brilliance is no small part of the reason why the Red Suns are one of the most elite teams of bounty hunters in the galaxy.

“Still having misgivings about the job?” Lars asks, noticing Arlon following closely behind.

“Yeah… The whole thing seems a bit sketchy to me,” Arlon tells him. “I mean, kidnapping a director?”

“Son, you’re not changing my mind.” Lars sighs for a moment before continuing. “Look, all we have to do is capture this guy and deliver him, and you know we need the money right now.”

“I know, but I’ve just got a real bad feeling about this one.”

“Just don’t let that feelin’ of yers get in the way of the job,” Devlin jabs at him.

“How about you worry about yourself and not kill the bloody target for once then?” Arlon snaps back.

“Lock it down. Both of you,” Lars tells them coldly. “You don’t have to like each other, but we’re a team and we’ve got a job to do so put your petty differences aside.”

“Got it,” Arlon replies.

“So, are you ready to do this job?” Lars asks him.

“Yes, boss,” Arlon answers. He steps away from the group and checks his weapons, not that it’s really necessary since he always makes sure to keep them clean. Holstering his pistols, Arlon follows the rest of the team off the Corsair.

“It’s time to go,” Lars tells the team as he releases his Salamence.

“Come on out, Spitfire.” Arlon’s Charizard emerges from his ball and lets out a mighty roar before leaning down so that Arlon can mount up.

Arlon hops up onto Spitfire’s back and motions for Rena to get on. Once she is seated, Arlon nudges Spitfire and the Charizard pushes off the ground with his powerful wings, following Lars and his Salamence into the skies of Parisia.

* * *

The team arrives at the target location, a strategic rooftop overlooking the passing air traffic. The air-cars fly by in both directions as the Red Suns dismount. “Rena, get yourself set up,” Lars instructs the Parisian sniper.

“Already on it, boss,” Rena replies as she unslings the sniper rifle from her back and sets it up on its bipod.

Lars nods and then reaches for his earpiece. “We’re in position,” he says over the comm channel. “What’s the status of the rendezvous point?”

“Location is secured,” Kiril responds.

“Excellent,” Lars tells him. “Standby. I’ll let you know when we’re headed to you.” Lars then turns to look at Arlon. “Get ready, the target should be passing by any moment now.”

Arlon and Lars climb back onto their Pokemon, prepared to take off at a moment’s notice. As if on cue, the director’s air-car flies into view.

“I’ve got the target in sight,” Rena announces.

“Let’s move,” Lars says to Arlon. The pair nudge their Pokemon and they lift themselves off the rooftop with their powerful wings.

Arlon and Lars fly full speed at the air-car, quickly closing the distance. They swoop in on either side of the open-top vehicle and prepare to board. A thin, dark haired man with glasses wearing a fancy blue suit sits in the back. A Shinx lies sleeping in his lap. Seeing the two Pokemon flanking his vehicle, a look of surprise appears on the man’s face

Arlon and Lars simultaneously leap from their Pokemon into the vehicle. Upon landing, Arlon quickly pulls out one of his pistols and aims it at the driver. “Try anything and I’ll shoot,” he says calmly.

“Vat is the meaning of this!?” the man in the back demands of the boarders, his shouts waking the Shinx in his lap.

“Konstantin Schroeder?” Lars asks him.

“Yes, that’s me,” the man responds, still quite baffled by the situation.

“You’re coming with us, Director,” Lars tells him as he places a hand on his arm.

“I, most definitely, am not!” Schroeder protests. His Shinx hisses at Lars and sparks fly off from its blue fur.

“You may want to recall your little friend there, mate,” Arlon chimes in, eying the director’s Pokemon. Schroeder nervously obliges before Lars begins dragging the man toward his Salamence.

“Vat are you doing? There is no vay I am riding avay on that beast!”

“Just shut up and climb on,” Arlon tells him.

Suddenly a shot flies through the air and hits the driver right in the head. “What the fuck?!” Arlon shouts as the air-car begins to dive. He quickly shoves the driver out of the seat and takes the controls.

“Rena, what’s happening up there? The driver’s been shot,” Lars asks the sniper over the comms.

“I’m not sure,” Rena responds, “I can’t figure out where ze shots are coming from. Wait… I think I see something. He’s on ze-” Suddenly she cuts out.

“Rena, are you there?” Lars asks. “ _Rena!?_ Shit!”

Suddenly another shot hits the air-car and takes out one of its thrusters. “I can’t hold this thing together!” Arlon shouts as the vehicle begins plummeting to the ground. “We’re gonna crash!”

The air-car narrowly misses colliding with a building as it drops. Arlon tries to regain control and pull out a landing but it’s no use. The vehicle slams into the ground, causing Arlon’s head to fly forward. It crashes against the dash and knocks him out cold.

* * *

Arlon comes to in the burning wreck of Schroeder’s air-car. As his vision clears, he looks around at the damages. “Lars?” he calls out. No response. He shakes his head clear and begins to climb to the back of the vehicle. “No…”

Both Lars and Schroeder lie dead, blood spattered across the back seat. Upon close examination, Arlon realizes that their wounds are not from the crash; both have been shot in the head, _executed_.

Arlon draws a pistol as he steps from the wrecked vehicle. He looks around for Lars’s killer, but the street is vacant. He reaches for his earpiece. “Rena? Rena, do you copy? Kiril? Is anyone there.”

Static.

“Goddamn it!” Arlon shouts. He rips the earpiece from his ear in anger and throws it on the ground.

Arlon hears the familiar roar of his Charizard and looks up to see the Pokemon circling above with Lars’s Salamence. “Down here!” he calls to them. They fly down toward the ground and land with a thud. Arlon walks up to his Pokemon and pats him on the back of the neck. “I wish you could tell me what the bloody hell happened here, mate,” he says to the Charizard.

Before he can get the chance to sort everything out, Arlon hears the sound of approaching sirens. “We need to get out of here,” he says to his Pokemon. Before leaving, Arlon climbs back into the vehicle where Lars’s Salamence nudges his trainer’s lifeless body. “I’m sorry, mate,” Arlon says to the Pokemon, comfortingly rubbing it on the back of the neck. “We’re not leaving him here though.” Arlon lifts Lars’s body out of the wreckage and places him on the back of his Pokemon. “I need you to follow me, okay?”

Arlon climbs onto Spitfire’s back and nudges the Charizard to take off. With Lars’s Salamence in tow, Arlon directs the Pokemon to fly back to Rena’s rooftop. Upon arriving, Arlon finds Rena lying facedown on the roof. “Rena!” he shouts as jumps off of Spitfire’s back. He runs over to the sniper and checks her pulse. He breathes a sigh of relief, realizing that she is still alive.

Arlon kneels down and rolls her over. “Rena!” he shouts as he shakes her, trying to wake her up. Her eyes flicker open. “Wha-? What ‘appened?” she asks.

“We were shot down…” Arlon trails off.

“What’s wrong?” Rena asks, seeing the distressed look on Arlon’s face.

“Lars… Lars is dead!”

“What?”

“I don’t know… I was knocked out when we crashed. I woke up and… he’d been shot in the head. Schroeder too.”

“Why did zey leave you?”

“I don’t know, maybe they thought I was dead already. Whoever did this… whoever shot that air-car down, whoever killed Lars. We have to find them. We have to make them pay for what they did! I don’t even know where to begin… You didn’t get a good look did you?”

“I’m sorry Arlon… I located ze sniper but… I didn’t get a good look at ‘im. Zen… someone ‘it me on ze back of ze head. Someone knew I was ‘ere.”

“We have to tell the others. My earpiece is dead. Please, tell me yours is working.”

Rena reaches for her earpiece but it isn’t there. She looks around quickly and sees it lying on the ground, smashed to pieces. “ _Merde!_ ” she shouts. “It’s broken.”

“Let’s get out of here,” Arlon says with a sigh. “We’ll head for the rendezvous point…”

* * *

Arlon and Rena silently ride Spitfire to the rendezvous point with Lars’s Salamence in tow. Neither feels like talking, still in disbelief that their leader is dead. As they land on the rooftop, Arlon notices that both Devlin and Kiril seem rather on edge. Arlon dismounts and walks over to the Salamence to collect Lars’s body. He silently walks to the waiting air-car and places the body inside.

“We know what you did,” Devlin sneers at him.

“What the bloody hell are you talking about?” Arlon asks.

“I know this was you,” Devlin tells him.

“You… you think I did this!?” Arlon shouts at him.

“What is ‘e talking about, Arlon?” Rena asks.

“I know you wanted to take over,” Devlin continues.

“Not like this,” Arlon tells him coldly.

“Then what’s this?” Devlin asks, showing him some data on his Pokedex: an intercepted message between whoever was responsible and… himself…

 _That’s impossible!_ The thought screams inside Arlon’s head. _I didn’t send this!_

“Is it true, Arlon?” Kiril asks him.

“This wasn’t me! I didn’t send this, I swear!” Arlon shouts. “I was knocked out. When I woke up, both Lars and Schroeder had been shot in the head. Whoever did that… they must have taken my Pokedex when I was knocked out! I swear on my life!”

“The evidence seems pretty clear to me,” Devlin tells him.

“Why would I want this!? Lars was like a father to me! He did more for me than my old man ever did… No… I think _you_ did this!”

“Typical. Blamin’ me for yer own actions.”

“Everyone knows you were gunning to take control when Lars retired.” Arlon backs away as the others begin to move in on him.

“The same goes for you… _mate_.” The last word slides out of Devlin’s mouth with a hint of venom as he reaches for a Pokeball.

“I swear this wasn’t me!” Arlon shouts as he continues to back away. “I’m being set up! You have to believe me!”

“We’re way past believin’ anythin’ you say.” Devlin throws out a Pokeball and releases his Tyrantrum. Arlon backs up to the edge of the rooftop as Devlin and his Pokemon move in on him. “You got nowhere to run to.”

“Then I guess I have to fly.” Arlon leans back and falls backward off the building. Spitfire immediately lifts off with his powerful wings and dives after his trainer.

“Use Rock Slide!” Devlin commands his Pokemon. The Tyrantrum stomps to the edge of the roof and slams the ornate stone roof tiles with his powerful tail, breaking off massive chunks down on Arlon and his Pokemon.

The Charizard swoops down and grabs his trainer as several chunks slam into him and deal a pretty nasty blow. However, the strong Pokemon fights through and flies away as Arlon swings up onto his back.

Devlin recalls his Pokemon with a look of pure anger on his face. “After him!” he shouts at his fellow Red Suns. “Chase him across the entire city if you have to!”

* * *

The sun sinks behind the skyline of Calais as Arlon and Spitfire set down by the river. Due to his injuries, the Charizard can no longer sustain carrying his trainer. “Thanks, mate,” Arlon says to his wounded Pokemon as he recalls him.

Arlon looks up at the Eiffel Tower as he catches his breath. The structure is one of the most iconic landmarks on Parisia, within the Geneva Confederacy itself. It is a replica of the original, back on Earth. Apparently it had a similar status back there as well. Despite the direness of his situation, Arlon can’t help but chuckle a little. _No wonder the French rebuilt it here_ , he thinks.

The moment of peace is cut short by the sound of an air-car whizzing past. Arlon looks up to see the Red Suns’ vehicle circling. “Bloody hell, they caught up fast,” Arlon grumbles. “The fucking Pokedex, I should have known better.” Realizing that his former allies had tracked him here, Arlon removes the device from his pocket. He slams it down on the ground as hard as he can, and then stomps on the damaged device. Then, he kicks it into the river, just to be sure. The vehicle begins to set down as Arlon quickly runs for the cover of the buildings.

The Red Suns chase after Arlon as he enters an under-construction building. Arlon hears the sounds of his former allies echo in the empty rooms as he rushes up the stairs. “Split up. He can’t have gone very far,” Garth commands Rena and Kiril.

 _Already acting like he’s the bloody leader!_ Arlon rages in his own head as he continues up.

“There is noise in stairwell,” Arlon hears Kiril’s voice echo behind him.

“So much for being the stealthy one,” Arlon grumbles to himself. Once he reaches the highest accessible floor Arlon exits the stairwell and searches for a way out. Unfortunately he finds himself up against a large pane of glass. He turns to find another way but finds himself face to face with the Red Suns.

“You got nowhere to run to this time,” Devlin sneers at him as he reaches for a Pokeball.

“So this is how it’s gonna be, then?” Arlon asks as he reaches for his own Pokeballs. He releases his Charizard and his Nidoking in between himself and his former allies. In response, Devlin, Rena, and Kiril release their own Pokemon: Bastiodon, Metagross, and Weezing, respectively.

“Kaiser, Earth Power! Spitfire, Flamethrower!” Arlon commands both his Pokemon. The Nidoking kicks up a massive blast of debris at Devlin’s Bastiodon, shattering the floor tiles. The Charizard spits out a massive surge of flames at Rena’s Metagross. Both targets take some damage but continue to close in on Arlon and his Pokemon.

“Ordinateur, use Psychic!” Rena commands her Metagross. The large metallic Pokemon fires off a blast of psychic energy at Kaiser, but the Nidoking manages to dodge out of the way. The blast flies past and shatters the glass behind Arlon. The wind surges into the room.

“Otrava, Gyro Ball!” Kiril instructs his Weezing. The Pokemon charges at Kaiser, and this time the Nidoking is unable to dodge. Otrava slams into the Pokemon and deals a heavy blow.

“Bastion, use Stone Edge!” Devlin commands his Pokemon. The Bastiodon charges forward at Arlon’s Charizard and slams into him with massive force, crushing the Pokemon against the wall. Spitfire lets out an agonized roar before it falls still, lifeless.

“No!” Arlon shouts at the death of his Pokemon. Rage burns in his eyes. He reaches for his belt and throws out another Pokemon. His Haxorus emerges and lets out a mighty roar. The highly aggressive Pokemon is one of his most powerful, and he needs him now more than ever.

“Chopper, use Superpower!” Arlon commands his Pokemon. The Haxorus rushes Devlin’s Bastiodon and hits him with all his might. The already injured Pokemon goes down from the hit. “Finish it off!” Arlon shouts out, thirsty for revenge. Chopper turns and slams the downed Pokemon with his powerful tail, pushing it out the damaged window.

Rena look at Arlon with surprise, shocked to see him act with such brutality. Devlin just grunts in amusement.

“Kaiser, Ice Beam!” Arlon commands his Nidoking. The Pokemon fires a focused beam of ice from his horn at Kiril’s Weezing and delivers a powerful strike.

“Ordinateur, use Shadow Ball!” Rena commands her Metagross.

“Otrava, Sludge Bomb!” Kiril commands his Weezing.

Recognizing Arlon’s Haxorus as a major threat, the two Red Suns focus in on the Pokemon. Their Pokemon launch their attacks and the combined effort deals a nasty blow to the dragon Pokemon.

Devlin then sends out his Tyrantrum. The Pokemon locks eyes with Chopper and lets out an angry roar. Just as Arlon and Devlin despise each other, their dragon Pokemon also have a strong rivalry. “Rex, use Head Smash!” Devlin commands his Pokemon. The Tyrantrum charges at Arlon’s Haxorus. then slams him full force with his powerful skull. The wounded Haxorus can’t stand up to the extremely powerful hit and is killed instantly.

Upset over the loss of yet another Pokemon, Arlon angrily throws out his last combat-ready Pokemon. His Aggron shakes the floor as he emerges from his ball. Arlon points at Devlin’s Tyrantrum and commands his Pokemon: “Titan, use Iron Head!” The large Pokemon charges at the Tyrantrum and strikes the dragon Pokemon with his horns, tearing through the beast’s rocky armor and dealing a nasty blow.

“Kaiser, use Earth Power!” Arlon commands his other Pokemon. The Nidoking follows up on Titan’s attack by kicking up a blast of debris at Devlin’s Tyrantrum. The dragon Pokemon looks pretty beat up but it stays standing.

“Ordinateur, use Shadow Ball!” Rena commands her Metagross, this time pointing at Arlon’s Aggron. The Pokemon fires off another ball of shadowy energy which connects with Titan, dealing some damage to the Pokemon.

“Now, Otrava, Explosion!” Kiril commands his Weezing. The Pokemon floats into the middle of the fray and detonates.

The blast launches Arlon back, sending him flying out the window. His belt snags on an exposed piece of metal, but the force is too great and the belt snaps. A Pokeball breaks loose and falls along with Arlon and he plummets toward the river below. Arlon reaches out and grabs it, then manages to straighten out into a dive just before he hits the water.

* * *

“No one could have survived that fall,” Kiril says as he looks down at the river stories below.

“Good riddance,” Devlin replies as he surveys the battlefield. Arlon’s Nidoking lies fainted next to the lifeless bodies of his other Pokemon, knocked out from the explosion. The Aggron is also out cold, but the Red Suns had to take the sturdy Pokemon down by focusing their fire. Devlin walks to the edge and looks down with Kiril. “It’s a shame he turned out to be a traitor,” he continues. “He was a useful ally.”

Devlin spots Arlon’s belt snagged on a piece of metal and picks it up. He removes the balls for Kaiser and Titan and then casts it aside. Devlin then recalls Arlon’s fainted Pokemon. “You’ll be a fitting replacement,” he says aloud as he places the Aggron’s ball on his belt. He then turns to Rena and shoves the Nidoking’s ball into her hands. “Here, you can do whatever you want with this one.”

Rena silently grabs the Pokeball and places it on her belt.

“I know you two were… close,” Devlin continues, seeing the saddened look on Rena’s face. He places a hand on her shoulder. “Don’t mourn him. Look at who he really turned out to be.”

“Don’t touch me,” Rena tells him coldly, pushing him away. She then walks out of the room, back toward the stairs.

* * *

Arlon sits in the cramped quarters of a small cargo ship. He had barely made it out alive. His skin is covered in burns from the explosion but he couldn’t stay on Parisia for treatment. it seemed that Devlin had put out the word that Arlon was responsible for the hit on Schroeder as his name and picture was all over the news. He had been lucky to make it offworld.

Arlon looks down at the Pokeball in his hand. It had been the only one he had managed to hold on to; not that it mattered since the other Pokemon were still in the building where he fought his former allies. He presses the button, hoping that it’s the ball he thinks it is. Out pops the recently hatched Aron he had been planning to train.

“I guess it’s just going to be me and you for a while, mate,” Arlon says to the small Pokemon.

The Aron looks at him expectantly.

“I guess you’ll need a name… Hmm… How about Ironhide? Yeah… That’ll do nicely.”

* * *

Devlin walks down the immaculate white hallway as well-armed guards direct him at each intersection. He had come to this ship for what sounded like a very promising business opportunity.

He arrives at a set of doors which slide open as he approaches, revealing a dimly lit office. A silhouetted figure stands looking out the viewport into the vastness of space. As Devlin steps into the room, the figure turns to face him.

“Devlin Garth, Origin: Alliance colony world Wharton... recently promoted leader of bounty hunter organization ‘Red Suns.’ Greetings. We have much to discuss.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was a fun piece to write. It was the first time I had tried my hand at writing a piece for this series outside of just converting the game sessions into chapters for the series. The job gone bad depicted in this story was referenced a couple times in those chapters, so when going back to write this I knew that it was the perfect choice to expand upon it and fully flush it out.
> 
> It was really interesting to write a whole story in this universe without basing it on an actual TRPG session. It opened up a lot of options, such as being able to write (mostly) from the perspective of a single character, and being able to make up a crazy battle with really high level Pokemon. At the time of this writing, our Pokemon were still kind of low level, so it was fun to do something we hadn't seen before. One thing I didn't change was the writing style. The main series was written in present tense as it was written out of a tabletop campaign, that was something I maintained here, but it's not a formula that was followed for other origin stories or spin-offs.
> 
> As you can see I was quite harsh on Arlon here and killed two of his Pokemon. I had to explain why they’re no longer around at the start of the campaign, since when we started we were all low level and had low level Pokemon. I figured it was improbable that he would go through something like this without losing a couple Pokemon anyway. And then the other two just weren’t in their Pokeballs when Arlon was blasted out the window. 
> 
> I hope you enjoyed this first glimpse at the universe of Spacemon and I look forward to getting some feedback on it!


	2. Origin Story 1: The Parisian Job

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arlon Jett teams up with three random strangers on the remote Gigan Station in the Outer Rim when the station comes under attack.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was the first official entry in Spacemon, sort of. This is based on the first session of the campaign, but the original chapter I wrote for this session wasn't very good in my opinion. It was my first time writing anything like this with any sort of seriousness. The first volume started off more like a documentation of the events of the campaign than a story. It gradually shifted over the course of the volume, and, by the start of the second, the shift was complete. After Volume 2 ended, I went back and rewrote all the chapters of volume 1 to make them consistent with the rest of the series. Now, enjoy the beginning of Spacemon proper!

“Tram number three now departing for atrium,” the computerized voice echoes through the dimly lit tram terminal. Arlon rushes to the tram, just barely managing to keep the door from closing. He slips onto the tram and makes his way down the aisle, searching for an open compartment. He sticks his head in a few, only to find them full. Eventually he finds one with only three other passengers.

“This seat taken?” Arlon asks the group of young looking individuals. 

“Nope,” says the young brunette woman, glancing at him with her cold grey-green eyes.

“Mind if I sit here then, luv?” Arlon asks her.

“Fine,” she says, returning to not paying him any attention.

Arlon takes a seat and joins the rest of the passengers in the compartment in brooding silence.

Arlon finds himself on the remote Gigan Station in Sector 25 in the Outer Rim. It is nothing more than an asteroid mining station, with not much more than a small shop and a refueling station for passing space travelers. Arlon had arrived here by hitching a ride on a freighter making a delivery to the station. It isn’t exactly where he wanted to end up, but the freighter was headed back into Federation space, a place he would very much like to avoid.

Suddenly the power goes out and the tram stops moving, leaving the four travelers trapped together in the tram compartment. Arlon gets up from his seat and tries the door, but it doesn’t seem to want to open.

“That’s odd,” he says out loud. “Usually these trams have some kind of automatic release when they lose power.” He tries pulling on the door but it doesn’t budge.

“Hey mate, you mind giving me a hand with this door?” Arlon asks the dark haired young man with glasses who had been sitting next to him.

“Sure,” the man replies. Arlon notes that he has a Romanov accent. He doesn’t see many Romanovs this far out in the Outer Rim unless they're mercs, and this fellow doesn’t really look like any sort of merc in the slightest.

They each grab a side of the door, then try to pull it open. Despite their efforts, the door refuses to budge.

“Damn door,” Arlon grumbles.

“Clearly we need the assistance of Pokemon!” the blond man in the labcoat who had been sitting opposite of Arlon declares. He stands up and releases a Rhyhorn which just manages to squeeze in between the seats. "It's up to you #1!” he says. “Break that door down!” The rocky creature easily busts through the door, startling several other passengers on the tram who had managed to get out of their compartments far more easily. 

“Excellent work!” the man tells his Pokemon, recalling it and returning the Pokeball to his pocket.

“I don’t really think that was necessary, mate.” Arlon tells him.

“Nonsense! We needed to get out of the room and now we can.”

Arlon shrugs and follows the blond haired stranger, the Romanov man, and the young woman along with the other passengers being ushered out of the tram by the station's security personnel. They are led down the remainder of the track and soon arrive in an open atrium filled with confused and annoyed people inconvenienced by the power outage. In order to pass the time, many have decided to engage in Pokemon battles. 

“You lot fancy a battle?” Arlon asks the three people from his tram compartment as well as a group of four other individuals.

“Sure!” a young teenager says enthusiastically, clearly excited to do something other than wait around. They break into two teams of four; Arlon now finds himself teamed up with the three people he had shared a tram compartment with against the teenager, his younger brother, and a young couple who do not appear to be related to them.

“Alright Ironhide, let’s do this, mate,” says Arlon, releasing his Aron. Over the last few months Arlon had grown quite attached to the little fellow. His Pokeball had been the only one he was able to hold onto when he faked his own death, and he had little idea of where his other, much more powerful, Pokemon had ended up.

Arlon’s teammates send out a Gastly, an Eevee, and the Rhyhorn from before. The team they’re up against looks to be disadvantaged with a Rattata, a Roggenrola, a Bulbasaur, and a Magnemite.

“Yvonne, use Quick Attack on that Rattata!” the young woman commands her Eevee. The little brown Pokemon charges at the Rattata and slams into it, knocking it over.

“Rattata, tackle it!” the young boy tells his pokemon. The little rat Pokemon charges wildly at the Eevee but it is too slow and the Eevee easily dodges out of the way.

“Wilhelm, Lick the Roggenrola,” the Romanov man instructs his Gastly. The ghostly ball of gas floats up to the Roggenrola and licks it with it’s spectral tongue, but the little rocky creature doesn’t seem to be that phazed.

“Alright Bulbasaur, use Vine Whip on that Eevee,” The woman instructs her Pokemon. The Bulbasaur extends its vines and lashes at the Eevee landing a hit.

“Magnemite, Thundershock that Gastly!” The teen commands his Pokemon. The magnetic being focuses its singular eye on the ghost Pokemon and shoots sparks out of its magnets at it.

“Ironhide, use Metal Claw on the Bulbasaur!” Arlon commands his Pokemon. The small metal creature runs up to the Pokemon and swipes it with his claw, fainting it with a critical strike.

“Now #1, use stomp on the Rattata!” the man in the lab coat tells his Rhyhorn. The rocky creature runs up to the Rattata and stomps on it with his big and heavy foot, taking it out of the fight.

“Roggenrola, headbutt that Eevee!” the man commands his Pokemon. The rock Pokemon charges at the Eevee and crashes into it, knocking it down.

“Yvonne use Quick Attack on the Magnemite!” the young woman commands her Eevee. The little Pokemon quickly hops back to its feet and runs at the Magnemite and slams into it but it doesn’t seem terribly bothered.

“Wilhelm, Night Shade!” the Romanov tells his Pokemon. The Gastly blasts the Magnemite with psychic energy and it starts to show signs of weakening.

“Use Thundershock again!” The teen instructs his Pokemon. It sends out another blast of sparks at Eevee which now seems to be weakening as well.

“Use Metal Claw on the Roggenrola.” Arlon commands his Aron. There’s a loud clang as the little metal creature swipes at his rocky foe, dealing a nice bit of damage to it.

“Now finish the Magnemite off with Horn Attack #1!” The Rhyhorn charges the Magnemite and slams it with his horn, taking it down. Now the Roggenrola is all that remains.

“Tackle the Eevee!” the man orders his Pokemon. It runs at the Eevee and slams into it.

“Yvonne, use Quick Attack once more!” the young woman commands her Pokemon. Despite being worn down, it charges forward and hits the Roggenrola as hard as it can.

“Now finish it with Metal Claw!” Arlon instructs his Aron. The armored Pokemon runs up to the Roggenrola and swipes at it again with his claws and brings it down.

“Wow. You guys are all great at battling,” the Roggenrola’s trainer tells them as he recalls his Pokemon.

“Cheers, mate,” Arlon tells him as he heads on his way.

Suddenly the main lights flicker back on; power has been restored.

“Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for your patience,” A voice sounds on the loudspeaker. “Power has been restored to the station. We just need to make sure everything is working properly before ships may leave the station. In the meantime you may continue to use the atrium for Pokemon battles or search for wild Pokemon that come in in with the asteroids in the mining bay. Thank you for your continued patience.”

Considering the fact that he only has one Pokemon, Arlon decides that looking for some wild Pokemon is a good idea while he’s stuck on the station. He makes his way to the mining area in the lower section of Gigan Station. He arrives in a wide open area with a big ray shield on one end where the chunks of asteroids are brought in to be mined. He spots a group of Geodude and a Solrock hanging out on a recently brought in chunk of asteroid and contemplates how to go about catching them.

Interestingly enough, the three individuals he had met in the tram all slowly filter into the room.

“We have got to stop meeting like this,” Arlon says to them jokingly. “Since you’re here, we may as well work together to catch those Pokemon over there.”

“Sure,” the young woman agrees.

Using on their four Pokemon from earlier, which Arlon observes are the only ones they have at the moment, the unlikely team engage the group of wild Pokemon. 

“Wilhelm, get up there,” The Romanov directs his Gastly.  The ghostly Pokemon floats up onto the asteroid and catches the attention of the wild Pokemon. “Now use Night Shade on one of those Geodudes!” 

“Yvonne, you get up there too, and use Quick Attack!” The young woman also instructs her Pokemon to get up there. With a few quick hops, the Eevee joins the Gastly on the asteroid and engages the Geodudes. 

“#1! You as well! Stomp those Geodudes!” The man in the lab coat commands his Pokemon. The Rhyhorn is surprisingly nimble and manages to get a good way up the asteroid as well. 

“Alright Ironhide, Headbutt that space rock and see if you can’t knock one of those Geodudes down here,” Arlon commands his Aron. Ironhide charges the asteroid and smashes his head into it at full force. The asteroid shakes for a second and one of the Geodudes near the edge falls down, landing next to Arlon’s Pokemon.

The Rhyhorn joins the Eevee and Gastly atop the asteroid and they manage to knock out the Geodudes that remain on orders from their trainers.

“Now focus on that Solrock!” the young woman tells her Eevee.

“Ironhide, use Metal Claw on the Geodude!” Arlon instructs his Pokemon. The Aron swipes at the Geodude and hits it into the side of the rock. While it’s still down, Arlon throws a Pokeball at it and successfully captures it. In the meantime, the other three Pokemon have been whittling down the Solrock. The young woman throws a Pokeball and captures it without much of a struggle.

“You lot are pretty handy in a battle.=,” Arlon tells the strangers but they don’t seem to pay him much mind. They seem to be too busy looking around the mining bay. “Don’t say much do ya?” he mumbles before walking over to the ray shield and looking out into space.

Suddenly he sees movement in the asteroid field. There’s a ship out there and it’s moving awfully fast. As it flies out from behind an asteroid, Arlon recognizes the _UAS Corsair_ , the frigate belonging to the Red Suns, the bounty hunter crew he used to run with before he was framed for the murder of their leader.

"We need to leave now!" Arlon shouts to his new acquaintances.

“What are you talking about?” the young woman asks.

“Have you looked out there, luv?” Arlon asks her coldly, pointing to the ship barreling toward the station. “This entire station is in danger.” While he hadn't had any brushes with his former crew since he faked his own death, Arlon had heard the reports. Every since Devlin Garth took over the Red Suns, they had become quite ruthless, relying increasingly on force and the hiring of pirates.

They rush back to the main area of the the station which is soon shaken by a large explosion. People are running around in terror and confusion. There’s another blast as a large section of the wall is blown out and a group of heavily armed men come running through, quickly killing the nearby security guards. The foursome quickly hides, except of course for the eccentric guy in the lab coat who walks right up to them

"Oi! Where do you think you're going?" demands one of the attackers with a gruff voice.

"To the ship of course!" says the eccentric fellow.

"You hear that boys?" he addresses his comrades. "He says he wants to go to the ship."

They laugh as they grab him and throw him into their boarding craft.

"Idiot," Arlon mumbles under his breath, then decides to go rescue him, his desire to keep out of harm’s way greatly outweighed by his sense of morality.

While two are distracted with their captive, Arlon sneaks up on the other two. He quickly grabs the pistol out of one of the pirates' holsters and puts it up against the back of the other's head.

"Let him go or I'll shoot."

"Hah. You ain't got the guts to-"

"Yes... I do," says Arlon, before pulling the trigger. The man drops to the floor in pain, down for the count, but not dead. _The damn idiot had it set to stun!_ Arlon realizes.

In the confusion, the other members of the party jump into action. The Romanov guy uses psychic powers, putting the pirate that Arlon had just disarmed to sleep while the young woman hacks into the station's computers and attempts to trap the _Corsair_ in the tractor beams. 

“Oi! What’s going on out here?!” one of the other pirates shouts as the two of them come running out of the boarding craft. When they see Arlon and the young Romanov man they reach for their Pokeballs. “You lookin’ for a fight?” one of them asks.

“Damn right I am.” Arlon tells him, reaching for his own Pokeball and sending out his Aron. The Romanov follows suit and sends out his Gastly. The pirates respond by sending out a Kadabra and a Magneton.

The Pokemon are left to battle on their own while the pirates and Arlon dive for cover and start shooting at each other. The Romanov quickly picks up a pistol off one of the downed pirates and follows suit. Laser fire flies across the atrium, the Pokemon dodging and weaving through the blasts as they duke it out.

Suddenly the eccentric man’s Rhyhorn comes charging out of the boarding craft, crashing into the Kadabra. The man is soon to follow, stepping outside the craft and then blasting electricity out of his hands at the pirates. One of them starts spasming and falls to his knees, paralyzed! Arlon quickly takes aim at the pirate and hits him in the shoulder, taking him totally out of the fight.

Having successfully trapped the _Corsair_ in the station’s tractor beams, the young woman sends her Eevee into the fray. With the additional assistance from the Eevee and Rhyhorn, the Aron and Gastly are able to overwhelm the Kadabra and Magneton by the skin of their teeth.

Arlon takes down the remaining pirate with another shoulder shot and the fight is won, but just barely.

Just then a voice comes in over the pirates’ radio. "Package secured. Is the boarding craft secure? Anyone there?"

Arlon quickly grabs one the radios and says "Yeah, everything's fine here, mate... uh... area secure."

"Who is this?" the voice asks. 

“Uh… Private Ryan?” Arlon says, not really having the time to think of something convincing.

“Haha, very funny. Hold the craft. We’re on our way back, we got what we came for,” the pirate replies on the radio.

“Wow. I did not think that would work,” Arlon says with a laugh.

“Uh… It looks like they’re going to fire on the station,” the young woman announces.

“Shit,” says Arlon. “We need to get out of here. Let’s see if we can’t find us a ship.”

They run to the hangar where they find a selection of four different ships.

“This one!” Arlon yells, headed for the Genevan bucket class ship. “It’s small and agile. Good for the asteroids.”

The foursome board the ship and Arlon slips into the pilot’s seat and fires up the engines. He quickly seals the airlocks and guns it out of the station.

As they make their escape there are more voices on the radio. "Package transmitted," says the voice from before.

"Good work boys. Now get yer asses back to the ship before we fire on the station. Ya’ll got thirty seconds." Arlon recognizes the voice of Devlin Garth the ruthless new leader of the Red Suns.

"But boss, we've still got men on board," the first voice responds.

"They're expendable!" Garth shouts just before Arlon flies out of radio range. The others see a bright flash as Gigan Station explodes behind them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was rewritten so long after the original session that I barely remembered the interesting stuff that happened. The original chapter was posted before I even started including a retrospective notes section at the end of each chapter and It was well before I started taking notes on the sessions to assist with the writing, let alone recording the audio, which is something I started doing at the start of Volume 2! The original was completely written from memory and was missing many details that I really didn't remember. In going back in rewriting this chapter I fudged a lot of the insignificant details to create a tighter narrative.
> 
> One of the major things I did with this chapter is add more dialogue and more active Pokemon battles. It was hard to capture that with the very brief descriptions that were in the original chapter and without notes on the session I had to make up a lot as a went along. Even if it didn’t end up playing out exactly how it did in the game, this chapter does a great job of capturing the story of the first session of Spacemon.
> 
> Another key thing I did was add in Arlon’s accent. It first showed up in his first appearance in Volume 2. The reason he didn’t have an accent in the originals is because at the time I wasn’t very good at doing accents for RP yet so doing one for such an extensive amount of time was difficult. We also never really settled on what European nationality represented in the Geneva Confederacy he was. Between volumes, we settled on him being British, so he was British once I switched over to my next player character, since I would only be voicing him in the few appearances he made in Volume 2, which was much easier to do.
> 
> Since I had written Arlon's origin story shortly before I wrote this, I decided to build off of it a little bit in this chapter to make everything seem a bit more connected. I am quite pleased with the results.


	3. Volume 1, Chapter 2: An Unlikely Partnership

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Having just escaped Gigan Station, Arlon and his new allies accept that they have to work together to survive.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Much like the last chapter, I rewrote this one months after the original was posted, touching up the details and bringing the quality up to my standards. Not much else to say here, so enjoy!

Arlon sits in the co-pilot seat in the cockpit of the newly acquired ship feeling rather confused. He could have sworn the Red Suns had somehow tracked him to Gigan Station, despite the fact that, as far as Arlon knows, they believe him to be dead. But they were after _something else_ and Arlon is extremely curious as to what it is. All he knows is that it was some kind of data package.

But he realizes that this is not the time to dwell on it. There are far more important things to worry about at the moment. Arlon pulls himself out of his thoughts and formulates a plan of action. “Alright, here’s the deal,” he says, turning to the young woman in the pilot seat who has been flying the ship. “We’ve got no warp drive, which means we’re not leaving this sector any time soon. We’ve also got limited fuel, so we need to refuel if we want to go anywhere.”

“So what do you suggest we do?” the young woman asks.

“Well, lucky for us, there’s a planet nearby where we can refuel; maybe even find a warp drive. Erebus,” Arlon tells her, pointing to a planet on the nav chart. “It’s a small forest planet. There’s a... I wouldn’t _exactly_ say spaceport there. More of an... _outlaw’s den_ , if you will. Not a very savory place but we can get what we need there.”

“Alright. I’ll plot a course,” the woman says.

“Right. Well, since we’re all stuck together for the time being, what are your names?” Arlon asks.

“Morgan,” the young woman says calmly.

“Dmitri,” says the Romanov man.

“And I am Experiment #1749XQR5Z-H, but you may call me H,” the quirky blond man says.

“So what are you, some kind of escaped lab experiment then, mate?” Arlon asks.

“I am a superior being! I am the one who will bring Humanity to perfection!”

“ _Right_ ,” says Arlon, thinking it best just to agree with the strange man.

“And who are you?” Morgan asks.

“The name’s Arlon.”

* * *

The rest of the trip is spent in silence, the four strangers not feeling very talkative. Having just met, they don’t feel particularly keen on sharing anything more about themselves. The ship eventually arrives at the planet Erebus and Morgan flies it into the atmosphere. As they approach, the ship starts rumbling and Morgan seems to be struggling with the controls.

“Pull up!” Arlon shouts at her. “You’re gonna crash the bloody ship!”

“I’m trying!” Morgan shouts back.

“Let me do it!”

Without even waiting for Morgan to get out of the way, Arlon seizes the controls and pulls the ship up from its crash course. The tops of the trees shake wildly in the wind as the ship narrowly avoids a collision.

"How about we let the experienced pilot fly the ship from now on then?" He asks as he settles into the pilot’s seat.

“Why didn’t you say something sooner?” Morgan asks, sounding quite annoyed with him.

“Well you were so keen on flying, I just assumed you knew what the bloody hell you were doing. But now that that’s cleared up, I’ll be flying this bucket.” He brings the ship in low and sets it down in a clearing in the lush forest of Erebus, a couple miles outside the settlement.

“Why are we landing so far away?” Dmitri asks.

“This isn’t exactly the nicest place to be,” Arlon tells him. “Trust me, mate, you don’t want to land any closer that this.”

They disembark from the ship and set out in the direction of the town. As they walk along, there’s suddenly a loud rustling in the brush.

“Hold up,” Arlon tells them. “Something’s coming.”

Before anyone else can react, a Scyther bursts out of the bushes. It is closely pursued by a pack of wild Poochyena. 

“That Scyther’s mine,” says Dmitri, reaching for a Pokeball. “Wilhelm, Night Shade,” he commands as he releases his Gastly. The ghostly Pokemon sends a blast of energy at the Scyther which catches its attention. It lunges forward and swipes at its attacker. With the Scyther distracted, the Poochyenas start ganging up on it, biting it in several places.

“Best to mop up the Poochyena if you want to catch it,” Arlon says, throwing out his own Pokemon, “Ironhide, Metal Claw.” he says, pointing at one of the Poochyena. The Aron charges forward and swipes at it, knocking it away from the Scyther.

The others follow suit and send out their own Pokemon, directing them to start attacking the Poochyena. The large group of Pokemon beating up on them causes them to turn tail and flee.

“Not so fast,” Arlon says as he throws a Pokeball, catching the Poochyena at the back of the pack. “Now Ironhide, hit that Scyther with another Metal Claw!”

“Yvonne, Tackle it!” Morgan instructs her Eevee. The two Pokemon land their hits, leaving the Scyther pretty beat up. But it isn’t done just yet. It lunges at Ironhide, its blade clanging off of the Aron’s armor as it inflicts a bit of damage.

“#1 hit it with Stomp!” H commands his Rhyhorn. The Pokemon charges at the Scyther and kicks it, knocking it into a tree.

“Now it’s all mine,” says Dmitri as he throws a Pokeball at it. The ball shakes a couple times before falling still.

“Nice work, mate,” says Arlon as he picks up his own Pokeball, now housing a Poochyena.

* * *

They continue on through the forest and eventually arrive in a large cleared out area with a small settlement. The place looks quite unpleasant, crawling with what looks like all sorts of criminals and scum.

“Best watch yourself here,” Arlon tells his companions as he leads them to the cantina.

“Hey mate, you know where I can get some fuel around here?” Arlon asks the bartender.

“Sure,” the man says. “If you buy a drink.”

“Fine. Just give me a beer,” Arlon says, then turning to the others, “You want anything?”

“Yeah,” Dmitri replies as he joins Arlon at the bar. “I’ll take a bottle of Vodka.”

“A whole bottle?” The bartender asks. “That’ll be a hundred credits,” he tells Dmitri. “And thirty for the beer,” he adds, turning to Arlon. They pay up and the bartender serves them their drinks. “The man you’re looking for is Aarn Hondo. You’ll find him in the scrap shop across the way.”

“Thanks, mate,” says Arlon, sipping his beer.

* * *

After finishing their drinks, they head over to the scrap shop. Upon entering, it becomes pretty apparent which one Hondo is.

"I hear you're the man to talk to to get some fuel around here," Arlon says as he approaches the man.

"Ah, yes, my friend, I do believe I can help you with that. What kind of ship you got?"

“It’s a Genevan bucket class ship,” Arlon tells him.

“Ah, a Genevan bucket. Very nice. How much fuel are we talking?”

“Just fill it up; we’re pretty much out at this point.”

“Very well. That’ll be fifteen-hundred credits.”

“That seems a bit steep there, mate. Why don’t  we sweeten the deal a little? I don't suppose you also happen to have a warp for sale here do you?”

“I may have one or two lying around,” Hondo tells him. “It’ll run you fifty-thousand credits.” 

"I’m afraid we don’t have that kind of money at the moment,” Arlon tells him. “I was thinking we could work out some kind of deal."

"I'm listening.”

"I believe you may be familiar with the bounty hunter Arlon Jett."

"Ah, yes. I believe I've come across the name."

"Well he's me, mate. I don't suppose you need anything done."

"Word is that you're a dead man."

"Well, I thought it best my enemies believed me dead. I am a wanted man."

"Ah, yes,” Hondo says with a laugh. “It _is_ a lot harder to catch a dead man. Very well. What kind of deal are we talking about here?"

"Well, I was thinking we could do something for you in exchange for a warp drive, and a better price on the fuel."

"Ah, yes. I do have a package I need delivered, but what's to stop you from running once I give you a warp drive?"

"Well, you should know from my reputation that I never break a contract."

"Very well. The package and the warp drive will be delivered to your ship, and I’ll knock five-hundred credits off on the fuel. I need the package delivered to the Alexi System in Romanov Space. Figuring out how to smuggle it in is up to you. Oh, and one more thing: whatever you do, do not open the package."

“Sure thing, mate,” Arlon tells him. “I believe we can handle that.”

“A pleasure doing business with you.”

“Likewise.”

* * *

As the unlikely crew exits the scrap shop they are stopped by a group of shady looking characters. “You lot are trainers, yeah?” one of them asks as he drops his cigarette butt to the ground and stamps it out. “How about a battle?”

Arlon glances back at his comrades and they give him a nod. “Alright then, mate,” Arlon tells him.

“How about we make this interesting then? Two-thousand credits on each side in the pot, winner take all.”

“I’ll take you up on that,” Arlon tells the man as he reaches for a Pokeball.

The three opposing trainers send out a Boldore, a Quilava, and a Beedrill. H releases his trusty Rhyhorn while the others opt to use their recent captures. Dmitri sends out his Scyther, Morgan her Solrock, and Arlon his Poochyena.

“Beedrill, use Pin Missile!” the Beedrill’s trainer commands. The Pokemon locks onto Morgan’s Solrock and fires a nasty stream of stingers in its direction. Only one meets its mark but it’s enough to take down the Pokemon instantly.

“Use Flame Wheel!” the Quilava’s trainer instructs, pointing at Dmitri’s Scyther.

“Dodge it and use Wing Attack on that Beedrill!” Dmitri commands his own Pokemon. The Scyther flies to the side as the wheel of fire whizzes by. She then flies full speed at the Beedrill and lands a hit with her wings.

“Crocuta, Bite that Quilava!” Arlon commands his Poochyena. She runs forward and sinks her fangs into the Quilava, dealing a pretty harsh blow.

“Boldore, use Headbutt!” the last rival trainer commands. The large Pokemon moves in on Crocuta and hits the Poochyena with its head, knocking her back a bit.

“#1, use Stomp!” H commands his Rhyhorn. The Pokemon runs forward and slams the Quilava with his sizable feet.

“Yvonne, use Quick Attack!” Morgan shouts out as she releases her Eevee. The Pokemon runs up to the Quilava and slams into it, knocking it out of the fight.

“Beedrill, use Twineedle!” the Beedrill’s trainer commands. The Pokemon flies full speed at Crocuta and hits the Pokemon with its dual stingers. The Poochyena can’t stand up to the hit and she goes down.

“Use Wing Attack again!” Dmitri commands his Scyther. The Pokemon flies after the Beedrill and strikes it with her wings again and knocks it out.

“Boldore, use Rock Blast!” the last trainer still in the fight commands. His Boldore looks at Dmitri’s Scyther and fires a rock at her but she’s a swift fighter and dodges out of the way.

“#1, use Fury Attack!” H commands. The Rhyhorn runs up and strikes the Boldore repeatedly with his horn but does little more then scratch the Pokemon’s rocky hide.

“Yvonne, use Quick Attack again!” Morgan commands. The Eevee sprints at the Boldore and throws herself at it, but the Boldore pays no mind.

“You too, Gigan,” Dmitri instructs his Scyther. Again, the same result: the Boldore is quite resilient.

“You’re up Ironhide!” Arlon shouts as he releases his Aron. “Use Metal Claw!” Ironhide emerge from his ball and charges at the Boldore, swiping it with his claws. The strike cuts through the Boldore’s defenses but the Pokemon stays standing.

“#1 finish it off!” H commands his Rhyhorn. The Pokemon charges the Boldore and crashes into it, finally taking it down.

“Not bad,” the Beedrill’s trainer tells the victorious team.

Arlon doesn’t trust them, but these lowlifes don’t back out on their deal and pay up. Arlon splits up the money with his new crewmates and then they go on their way.

* * *

After their victory the crew heads back to the ship. On the way back they encounter a Wurmple, a Weedle, and a Caterpie in the dense forest. Arlon pressed on toward the ship while the other three stay back to capture them. The small bug Pokemon don’t put up much of a fight and they capture them with ease. The trio then quickly make their way back to the ship.

Hondo’s men arrive at the the parked ship a short time later with the warp drive and the package. A group of them works on installing the warp drive in the ship while another group secures the package in the cargo hold.

“Remember, don’t open it,” one of the men reminds Arlon before they depart from the ship.

“Alright, let’s find out what’s inside,” H says as soon as the men are gone.

“We are not opening this package,” Arlon tells him sternly.

“Why not?” H asks, seemingly flabbergasted by Arlon’s words.

“Hondo specifically instructed us not to open it. I don’t break a contract, so this package stays closed.”

“Well that’s no fun,” H replies before walking around the room.

After H leaves, Arlon takes a quick look around the cargo hold and discovers a few great balls lying around. He pockets them before exiting the room and locking it behind himself to make sure H doesn’t mess with the package.

Arlon makes his way to the bridge and plops himself down in the pilot seat. He then activates the ship’s comm system and summons his shipmates: “Get up here so we can figure out a plan.” 

Once they gather on the bridge, Arlon looks at them and explains the situation. “We have a warp drive now but we’re not getting to the Romanov Union without a Pokemon to act as a psychic navigator,” he informs them. “I don’t suppose any of you happen to have one capable?”

“Unfortunately, no,” Morgan tells him.

“I don’t either,” says Dmitri.

“Nor I,” says H.

“Well, I guess we’ll have to catch one then. Let’s head to the next system over for now and see what we can find.”

* * *

After a couple hours in warp space, the ship arrives in the next nearest system. As luck would have it, as Arlon flies the ship through the system’s asteroid belt towards the interior planets, he spots a Beldum floating between the large space rocks.

Arlon quickly activates the comms and informs his crewmates: “There’s a Beldum out in space. If we can catch it, we can use it as our navigator.”

“How exactly do you plan on catching it?” Morgan asks when she arrives on the bridge, “It’s not like we have space suits are anything.”

“How indeed,” says H as he steps onto the bridge, “We all have Pokemon that can survive out in space. We will use them to bring the Beldum onto the ship.”

“And how exactly do you propose to do that, mate?” Arlon asks.

“Simple. We will use a rope!”

“And how exactly do you plan on getting a rope around it?”

“No, no, no. We will soak the rope in water and it will freeze into a pole of ice in space. #2 will coat the end in string shot so it can easily be stuck to the Beldum. Your Geodude will guide it into place from the airlock and Morgan’s Solrock will help stick it on with its telekinetic abilities. Dmitri, your Gastly will lure it in.”

“You realize this plan is _complete_ bullshit, right mate?”

“And that is precisely why it will work!” H declares as he heads off the bridge toward the airlock.

“You’re lucky I’m such a bloody good pilot then,” Arlon says under his breath as he lets out his Geodude. “Terra, go with them and follow the plan.” The Geodude nods and then follows Morgan and Dmitri off the bridge.

The two arrive at the airlock to find H having his Weedle coat the end of the rope in sticky string. “Excellent!” he exclaims when he says his shipmates arrive. “Release your Pokemon and well shall begin!”

“I can’t believe we’re actually trying this,” Morgan replies as she releases her Solrock, “Come on out, Corinne.”

Under H’s supervision the plan gets underway. Dmitri releases Wilhelm and instructs the Gastly to fly out into space and get the Beldum’s attention. In the meantime, Arlon attempts to keep the ship as close to the Pokemon as possible.

Whatever Wilhelm does seems to work and he is able to lure the beldum near the airlock where Terra and Corinne are working on extending the rope. They successfully stick it on and begin to reel the Beldum in. Arlon works hard to keep the ship as steady as possible as the Pokemon pull the Beldum closer.

Once the Solrock and Geodude get the Beldum into the airlock, H slams the close button and seals it in. Arlon quickly sets the ship to autopilot and runs to the airlock to assist. In the meantime, Dmitri raises his hand and sends out a ray of energy, sending the Beldum into a state of confusion.

“Terra, grab onto the Beldum and hold it in place while we open the interior airlock,” Arlon commands his Geodude as he arrives on the scene. The Pokemon moves in and wraps her arms around the dazed Beldum and Arlon opens the airlock.

“#2, use String Shot!” H commands his Weedle. The little Pokemon sprays the Beldum with string, binding it in place. 

“Wilhelm, use Nightshade,” Dmitri instructs his Gastly. The Pokemon blasts the Beldum with a surge of dark energy. The gathered trainers follow up by instructing their Pokemon to attack and whittle it down.

“Alright, it is time to catch it!” H shouts as he reaches for a Pokeball.

“Here, use this,” Arlon tells him, handing him one of the great balls he found in the cargo hold. H grab it out of his hand and throws it at the Beldum. The ball shakes violently and the Pokemon breaks out.

“Now it’s my turn,” says Dmitri.

As much as he wants to hang on to the great balls, Arlon knows they need to catch this Beldum if they want to go anywhere so he tosses one to Dmitri. Dmitri nods at him and then throw the ball at the Beldum. The ball shakes violently again, but this time it falls still.

“I can’t believe this bloody plan actually worked,” Arlon says to his shipmates.

“I told you it was going to work!” H exclaims.

“Whatever, mate,” Arlon replies. “Now let’s get this guy hooked up to the warp drive so we can actually get somewhere.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was another session from before I started including notes about the session and writing process at the end of each chapter that summarized the interesting stuff that happened in the game and how it affected the story and the way I wrote it. However, this one was a bit more memorable to me because this was the first time that we worked together to do this crazy bullshit plan to do something. In this case it was to catch a Beldum in space without having any space suits! I still don’t know how we even managed to pull it off.
> 
> Like the previous chapter, this one was also written from memory as I hadn't yet started to take notes on the sessions for the sake of writing these. If I recall correctly, this was around the time when I first got the idea to actually start writing about the sessions on the blog I write for, although I never got to it until after the third session. In going back to this chapter for revision, I had to again fudge some of the details as they have been long forgotten by me, the GM, and the other players!
> 
> As for interesting stuff that happened this session, as players we were still getting to know each other, much like our characters in the game, so RP was a bit awkward still. But once we teamed up to catch that Beldum we really started to bond in both respects! Then there was that killer Beedrill! That thing completely murdered Morgan’s Solrock in one hit, I’m not even joking. Like the HP dropped from full to below -100% which is the threshold for killing a Pokemon instead of fainting it that we’ve been using (the rules for the PTU system say -200%, but the GM made it harsher for the kind of narrative he was going for). But because it was the second session and we all barely had any Pokemon, the GM showed mercy and let it live. So far, it has been the only time such mercy was shown because, you know, we’re freaking badasses.


	4. Profile 1: The Smuggler

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Smuggler Aarn Hondo reflects upon his newest "employee" and makes a business transaction with a dangerous outlaw.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the first entry in a seven part anthology series that was written after the entire Spacemon campaign was done. Each chapter follows a different NPC character in the Spacemon universe at a different point in the timeline. Each entry will be inserted into the story at the right point in the timeline even though they were written after the whole thing was done.

It was a slow day at Aarn Hondo’s junk shop. Dust particles danced in the rays of Erebus’s sun that were flittering in through the windows as the smuggler and junk dealer rested at his desk, tilted back in his chair with his feet up. Hondo lightly stroked the small Skarmory lying in his lap as he mused about his wealth.

Despite the lack of business on this particular afternoon, the man had done quite well for himself on this world. He had quickly set up shop here when it was little more than a makeshift spaceport for like-minded individuals. Most would call them outlaws, but Hondo preferred the term _opportunists_. Indeed, the junk shop on Erebus had been quite the opportunity for the smuggler. It provided a steady stream of customers and _employees_.

Not only was Hondo able to make a quick buck selling off his _acquisitions_ to passing space travelers, but many of those travelers also happened to be smugglers like himself. That was yet another opportunity that Hondo couldn’t help but seize. Why waste valuable time and fuel doing the job yourself when you can outsource the work to others for half the cost?

Of course not every person to pass through the smuggler’s shop was the most reliable, but his latest contract had been quite the catch. Hondo had been hired to _deliver_ a mysterious package to Romanov space. Normally the man hated smuggling items into that particular region of the Galaxy, and for good reason— Romanov inspections had a reputation for being _very_ thorough. However, the pay was too good to turn down.

Hondo knew he would probably have to make this delivery himself, as most of his customers could not be trusted with a package of such value. Luckily for the smuggler, the perfect man for the job happened to stroll into his little shop. It wasn’t every day that he crossed paths with a desperate dead bounty hunter with a respectable reputation, and Hondo intended to make the most of such a wonderful opportunity.

“Ah, yes,” the smuggler muttered to himself as he picked up the datapad on his desk and looked over the files he had on Arlon Jett. The Genevan bounty hunter had made quite the name for himself as a member of the Red Suns, one of the most reputable teams of bounty hunters in the Galaxy.

Of course, Arlon Jett had also made the headlines recently for supposedly assassinating some important Federation official on Parisia. Hondo could not seem to recall the man’s name, but it didn’t really matter anyway. What did matter was that Arlon Jett was also reported to have been killed, by his fellow Red Suns no less, the very same day. Yet, miraculously, this man— who was, by all accounts, dead— walked into Hondo’s shop just yesterday!

But— as one would expect of a dead man who was, in fact, _not_ dead— Arlon Jett had been in dire need of Hondo’s services. The man had found himself in the possession of a ship with hardly any fuel and no warp drive at all. Hondo was all too happy to provide. After all, what was the price of a warp drive he had scavenged off a wrecked pirate vessel compared to the payment promised for delivering the package that was now well on its way into the Romanov Union? The best part was that the smuggler didn’t even have to split any of that money with his new bounty hunter friend.

 _Quite the opportunity, indeed_ , Hondo though, smirking ever so slightly as he stroked his Skarmory’s metallic feathers. The smuggler had a feeling that the “dead” Red Sun would prove to be very useful to him.

“Hondo!”

The smuggler’s grin quickly formed into a frown at the sound of the familiar shout wrapped in an Alliance outer colony drawl. _Speaking of Red Suns…_

“Hondo! Get yer damn dirty ass out here!”

Hondo’s Skarmory flapped into the air as the smuggler stood up to greet his visitor. The metallic bird fluttered around for a few moments before settling down on its trainer’s shoulder.

Hondo stepped around a shelf full of junk to see the current Red Sun’ leader examining his wares. “Ah, Devlin Garth!” he exclaimed, a false expression of delight appearing on his face. “What can I do for you this time, my friend?”

Garth turned to face the smuggler, giving him a familiar scowl. To Hondo it seemed as if the man was more irritated than usual. “I need you to fix my damn ship.”

“Very well, then,” Hondo replied. “What seems to be the problem, my friend?”

“The damn shield system is fried,” Garth explained. Hondo could almost taste the man’s displeasure it was so strong. “Some idiot thought it would be a good idea to trap the _Corsair_ in a minin’ tractor beam.”

“A tractor beam, huh?” Hondo rubbed his hands together excitedly at the thought of making a profit. “I believe I can help you with that, my friend.”

“I would certainly hope so,” Garth snarled at him. “Yer little dump is the only place with ship parts in this sector.”

“ _Dump?_ ” Hondo asked. “I take offense to that. This quality establishment is the finest junk shop in these parts.”

“It’s the _only_ junk shop in these parts,” the Red Suns’ leader shot back. “Now, are you gonna fix my damn ship or just stand there like an idiot?”

Hondo’s frown returned for a brief moment. He truly loathed Devlin Garth, but business was business. “Yes, of course,” the smuggler answered, beckoning Garth to follow him. “I suspect the power supply must have overloaded. I have several shield generators lying and here somewhere.”

The Skarmory perched on Hondo’s shoulder snapped its beak at the Red Sun’s leader as he approached. Garth swatted at it, causing the Pokemon to lift off. The metallic bird squaked angrily as it circled above. After a few moments, the Skarmory landed atop a shelf full of scrap where it continued to squawk at Garth.

“Tell yer stupid bird to shut up,” the Red Suns’ leader growled at Hondo.

“Well, you _did_ agitate it,” Hondo pointed out.

“Do I look like I care?” Garth asked. “Shut yer runt Pokemon up,” he repeated, calling attention to its unusually small size. “Why do you keep it around? You’d be better off puttin’ the damn thing down and gettin’ a real Skarmory.”

“I can assure you, this Pokemon is _very_ capable,” Hondo told the the Red Suns’ leader. The smuggler held out his arm, and his Pokemon fluttered back onto its perch. “And besides, the little guy is quite _rare_ and, therefore, quite _valuable_.” Hondo reached up and patted the Skarmory affectionately. “Now, my friend, would you like a new shield generator, or are you going to continue insulting me in my own shop?’

“You ain’t thinkin’ of holdin’ out on me, are ya?” Garth asked. The man was starting to get on Hondo’s nerves.

“I was considering it,” the smuggler answered.

Garth’s eyes narrowed and his hands crept down to his belt; one drifted toward the Red Suns’ leader’s holstered pistol while the other wrapped around one of his Pokeballs. “You got a problem or somethin’?”

Hondo’s hand reflexively moved toward his own pistol, ready to draw in case things got _nasty_. Silence hung in the air as the two men stared each other down, broken only by the sound of Hondo’s Skarmory clicking its talons together.

After several moments that seemed to stretch on for hours, Hondo’s brow twitched slightly, then a grin broke out across his face. The smuggler laughed loudly and pulled his hand away from his weapon. “What are we doing standing around when there is money to be made?”

Garth smirked slightly, and removed his hands from his own weapons. “You always were a greedy little bastard.”

“Yes, yes, of course, my friend. Money it the greatest thing in this Galaxy. Now, come.” Hondo placed a hand on Garth’s shoulder and guided him further into the shop. “Let’s get you that shield generator.”

Hondo led Garth around a few large mounds of piled ship scraps and parts toward the back of his shop. This particular section was where the smuggler kept most of the larger ship components, including engine parts, warp drives, and, of course, shield generators.

“Aha!” Hondo exclaimed, spotting what he was looking for. He and Garth approached a shield generator he has recently acquired. The smuggler smirked, realizing that this shield generator had been salvaged from the same wreck as the warp drive he had provided to Arlon Jett the day before. “This should fix your problems.” 

“For yer sake, you’d better be right,” the Red Suns’ leader responded, a bit of his previous vitriol returning.

“Oh, make no mistake,” Hondo replied, flashing a grin as he rubbed his hands together. “And to prove just how confident I am, I will make you a _special offer_. Normally I would sell a shield generator such as this one for fifty-thousand credits, but for you, my friend, I will make an exception. This fine piece of equipment is all yours for only _thirty-thousand_ credits!”

Of course, he was lying. Hondo gave the same shpiel to _all_ his customers and they _always_ ate it right up. He always started with high price points so that the prices he _actually_ intended to sell his wares at seemed far more reasonable.

Garth frowned. “ _Only_ thirty-thousand?” He seemed to be getting annoyed again.

“Well the fee also includes installation,” Hondo explained. “My salvage crew knows what they’re doing.” As if on cue, a couple of the smuggler’s men walked by. “Excellent!” Hondo exclaimed. “You two, get some men and help my friend here install his new shield generator!”

“You got it, boss!” One of the men responded.

“Now then, my friend, where were we?” Hondo asked, turning his attention back to Garth as he rubbed his hands together once more. “Ah, yes, that’ll be thirty-thousand credits.”

“Alright,” Garth replied, pulling out his Pokedex. “This damn thing better be worth it.” With a few quick button presses, the Red Suns’ leader transfered the funds to Hondo.

“You can count on it, my friend.” Hondo grinned at Garth. “I wouldn’t be doing as well as I am out here if I was selling faulty wares.”

“Yer a true slimeball, Hondo,” Garth said, patting the smuggler on the shoulder.

“Please, I prefer to be called an _opportunist_.”

“Whatever floats yer boat.” The Red Suns’ leader turned away, ready to depart from the shop. “Now I gotta go make sure yer men don’t ruin my ship,” he told Hondo as he began to walk away. “I’ve got some big operations on the books.”

As he watched the man leave, Hondo’s eyes fell upon the empty space once occupied by the warp drive he had given Arlon Jett. “Hold on a second,” the smuggler called after Garth.

“What is it now?” the Red Suns’ leader asked, glancing back at Hondo.

For a brief moment, Hondo considered telling Garth that his former Red Sun compatriot Arlon Jett was still alive. The Red Suns were a rapidly growing force to be reckoned with in the Outer Rim, and he and their leader didn’t exactly get along very well. He realized that sharing Arlon’s fate with the Garth might improve his standing with the man. _On second thought…_ the smuggler thought. It was highly likely that this new might just end up pissing Garth off again. Not mention that having Arlon Jett as an ally might not be such a bad idea. If the man was clever enough to fake his own death, he could be quite useful to Hondo.

“Well?” Garth’s voice snapped Hondo out of his thoughts. “What is it?”

“Oh, it’s nothing, my friend,” the smuggler answered. “I simply thought you had forgotten something.”

“Yer a real idiot sometimes, you know that?” And with that, the Red Suns’ leader strode out of Hondo’s junk shop.

A smirk appeared on the smuggler’s face once Garth vanished from view. He was feeling good about his decision. Even if Garth was in the more powerful position than his new bounty hunter friend, Arlon was much more pleasant to work with. Hondo also couldn’t help but shake the feeling that the Genevan bounty hunter might just be his best customer-turned-employee yet.

The smuggler stroked his Skarmory once more as he settled back into his chair. He put his feet up on the desk once more and leaned back. Hondo was in a good mood. The past few days had been very good for business. Very good, indeed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Man, it was good to come back to this series. Even though we wrapped up the campaign (for now, as the sequel is definitely happening and we’re getting hyped for it), I never really was able to let it go, at least not with so many stories left untold. That’s where Profiles comes in! This was a planned seven part anthology series exploring stories from various NPC characters from spacemon who didn’t get enough time to shine as I would have liked. Each entry, of course, follows a different character and have a unique feel to it. What I really tried to do with this piece is capture the essence of Hondo’s character, and I hoped to continue capturing each character’s essence with each entry.
> 
> It actually took a few iterations before I decided what I wanted to do with this piece. I was originally going to focus on the package he wanted the Dunsparce crew to deliver and go into where he got it and all that, but I didn’t really know where to take it, so I decided to just make it about a day in his shop. From pretty early on I knew I wanted to give Garth a cameo because I felt he didn’t have enough “screen time” in Volume 1, so I decided to have him show up shortly after his first little appearance in the first chapter. I thought it’d be neat if Morgan’s little stunt with the tractor beam actually had more consequences and it worked perfectly. I also really wanted to do something with the Skarmory that the GM gave him in Tempore Ex Machina (which you wouldn’t have read yet if you’re a first time reader). He completely misremembered the actual size of Skarmory, something that no one picked up on until months later, and when I pointed it out we came up with the idea that it was a rare pygmy Skarmory and that Hondo has a penchant for rare things. I thought it’d be funny if Garth was a total asshole about it as he tends to be, so that’s where the only real sort of conflict we get here. And then I wrapped up with a little tease of coming Red Suns activities.
> 
> One note I want to make is that, like other side stories in this series that were written before this, this was written in third person. I did it just for a change of pace and just thought I'd point it out in case it was jarring.


	5. Volume 1, Chapter 3: Rumble on Ragnarök!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The new crew begins to plan their next move and faces off with the Rock Gym!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Much like the last chapter, I rewrote this one months after the original was posted, touching up the details and bringing the quality up to my standards. Not much else to say here, so enjoy!

Arlon relaxes on ship’s bridge, putting his feet up on the console. “Ah, that’s nice,” he says aloud. It had been quite some time since he had a ship of his own to kick back on with some nice peace and quiet on the bridge.

The silence is broken when Arlon hears the sound of footsteps walking onto the bridge. He looks over to see Morgan and sighs, relieved that it’s her and not one of the other two. “Need something, luv?” he asks.

“Shouldn’t we be going somewhere?” she asks him.

“Like where? We’re on a stolen ship with a presumably stolen warp drive. There’s no way we’re getting through the warp gate just yet.”

“Well then what would you suggest we do?” Morgan ask.

“Well, there is a gym in this system. If we challenge it and earn the badge it would at least improve our chances. We’re gonna need to lie our way through so having a badge will make us seem more… _credible_.”

“If you say so.”

“Right then,” Arlon says. He takes his feet down from the console and sets a course for the gym.

* * *

After a short trip toward the center of the system, the ship arrives at the gym’s location in orbit around the planet Ragnarök, named for the fact that a large chunk of the planet had been blown away by some long ago disaster. Ragnarök’s surface is far from habitable with a toxic atmosphere and a massive sea of exposed molten rock on the destroyed hemisphere. The planet is orbited by a massive set of rings comprised of asteroids and large chunks of the planet itself.

The gym itself is housed within a station built into the surface of one of the larger chunks. As Arlon brings the ship in, he hails the station and is granted permission to dock. Once the ship is securely docked, the crew steps out into the docking bay. They make a brief stop at the small shop on the station to pick up some potions, just in case.

Once they are ready, Arlon, Morgan, Dmitri, and H step through the large doors into the main arena. They emerge in a large open room full of rocky terrain a couple of gym trainers stand by the edges while the leader stands atop the raised area in the center. They ignore the trainers for now and head straight for the leader himself. He strokes his facial scruff as he watches them approach.

“Welcome to Ragnarök,” he tells them. Arlon notes the faint hint of a Swedish accent in his voice. “I am Johan Lindberg. I take it you are here to challenge me.”

“Indeed we are, mate,” Arlon replies, cracking his knuckles.

“Very well,” Johan replies. “Two Pokemon each. One at a time. You’ll need them.” He steps down from the raised area and walks off to the side, directing the challengers to stand on the side opposite from him.

“#2 can handle this!” H confidently shouts as he sends out his Weedle. Arlon sighs and shakes his head when Johan throws out his own Pokeball and a Golem springs out onto the field. “On second thought,” says H, immediately recalling him.

“Ironhide, let’s do this,” says Arlon as he switches in his Aron.

“Use Magnitude,” Johan commands his Golem. The large rocky Pokemon stomps its foot down, causing the whole arena to rumble. Ironhide is blasted with dirt and chunks of rock but the sturdy little Pokemon hangs in there.

“Now use Metal Claw!” Arlon commands his Pokemon. Ironhide runs at the Pokemon and claws its rocky hide with his sharp claws.

“Finish it with Bulldoze” Johan instructs his Pokemon. The Golem, unfazed by the hit, charges at Ironhide and slams full force into him, knocking him out of the fight.

Arlon recalls his fainted Pokemon and pulls out another Pokeball. “Alright, your turn Terra!” Arlon shouts as he releases his Geodude.

“Use Magnitude,” Johan commands his Golem again.

“Dodge it!” Arlon commands as the Golem prepares for another attack. As the Pokemon crashes down and kicks off another quake, Terra floats up and out of the way. “Now use Magnitude!” Terra crashes down to the ground and starts a quake of her own, knocking the Golem over. It quickly rolls up and jumps back to its feet, ready for another attack.

“Use Rock Blast!” Johan commands his Pokemon. It fires a flurry of rocks at Arlon’s Geodude, landing a few hits. Terra doesn’t seem that bothered and awaits Arlon’s command.

“Terra, use Defense Curl!” The Geodude rolls up in a tight ball to protect herself while she prepares for her next attack.

“Golem, use Rock Slide!” the Gym leader instructs his Pokemon. It fires a torrent of rocks at Terra, but the defending Pokemon stays up.

“Time for another Magnitude!” Arlon shouts out. Terra springs out of her defensive position and launches herself into the air. The Pokemon begins glowing as she falls back to the ground. Summoning all of her strength, Terra crashes down in front of the Golem as she evolves into a Graveler and finishes the Pokemon off with another powerful quake.

“Impressive,” Johan says to Arlon as he recalls his defeated Pokemon. “But we’re just getting started!” He pulls out another Pokeball which brings out a Magcargo. “Use Ancient Power!” The Pokemon summons a massive surge of power and blasts it at Arlon’s Pokemon.

“Use Rock Throw!” Arlon instructs his Graveler. The freshly evolved Pokemon picks up a large rock and chucks it at the Magcargo.

“Use Flame Burst!” Johan instructs his Pokemon. The Magcargo, not particularly bothered by the previous attack, spits a burst of flames at its attacker, further whittling the Graveler down.

“Now use Magnitude!” Arlon commands Terra. The Graveler summons another powerful quake which completely decimates the Magcargo, taking it out of the fight.

"Prepare yourself," Johan tells his challengers as he recalls his fainted Pokemon and pulls out another Pokeball. "Go Fuckle!" he shouts as he throws the ball into the air. A Shuckle emerges and plops down to the ground, staring down Arlon’s Graveler.

“Terra, use Rock Throw!” Arlon commands his Pokemon. The Graveler picks up another rock and lobs it at the Shuckle, but it just bounces off.

“Use Power Split!” Johan commands the Pokemon. A light blasts out from the Shuckle and strikes Terra, draining some of her power into the Mold Pokemon.

“Use Magnitude!” Arlon commands his Graveler. It hits the Shuckle with a quake but it doesn't do very much.

“Alright, now it’s time for Rollout!” The Shuckle retreats into its rock and starts rolling. It strikes Terra and then keeps going, bouncing off the large boulders in the arena. The two Pokemon keep trading blows but the Shuckle just keeps bouncing around and striking stronger each time, finally taking Terra down.

From here, the tide of the battle begins to turn as the Shuckle rolls through H’s Rhyhorn and Morgan’s Solrock with ease. With not many options left, the crew turns to Dmitri’s Beldum. The Pokemon withstands the Shuckles attacks, but it’s only capable of the move Take Down.

“Maine, you can do this!” Dmitri encourages the Pokemon as the fight starts to wind down. “One more Take Down!” The Pokemon throws itself at the Shuckle, finally knocking it out of the fight, even though the Beldum knocks itself out too.

“That was quite the intense battle,” Johan compliments the victorious challenges. “I’m impressed.” He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a handful of badges. “You have earned the right to wear the Asteroid Badge.”

* * *

After collecting their winnings, the crew returns to the _Dunsparce_ and Arlon plots a course to the sector’s warp gate. “Here's the plan,” Arlon tells his crewmates. “I figured out how we’re going to do this during the battle.” He turns to Morgan. “You’re pretty good with computers, right?” he asks.

“I suppose,” Morgan answers.

“It’ll have to do then. Right, I need you to hack the Federation ship monitoring the warp gate when we get close. I’ve had a crew that’s done this before. You can hack into their computers no problem and slip the ship’s info in and it will get pushed up to the main Federation network.”

“I think I can handle that,” Morgan tells him.

They arrive at the gate shortly thereafter and Morgan manages to get into the Federation ship’s system. Before she is able to put in any information about their ship, however, the Federation ship hails them. “Your ship is not appearing on our logs.”

“We’re definitely in there,” Arlon lies. “It’s the _GCS_ … uh...” He pauses for a moment to think of a name.

“ _Dunsparce_ ,” H blurts out before Arlon can say anything.

“Right, the _GCS Dunsparce_.”  
“We have no ship by that name on record,” the Federation officer replies.

“It must be a glitch, mate,” Arlon tells him. “Try refreshing or something.” He then looks over at Morgan. After a few moments she nods and gives him the all clear.

“Hmm, ah, yes. Here it is. The _GCSDunsparce_. Sorry about that. You’re clear to go through the gate.”

“No problem, mate,” Arlon tells him. He then hangs up the call and takes the ship into the warp gate on a course for the Romanov Union. Once they’re through, Arlon swivels his seat around and looks at H. “Of all the bloody names you could have come up with, why would you name the ship _Dunsparce_?”

“What’s wrong with _Dunsparce_?” H asks.

“It’s just a bloody stupid name for a ship. Anyway, we need to find a spot to hide that package. Searches are mandatory when entering and leaving the Romanov Union.” Arlon leaves the ship on autopilot and then heads back to the cargo hold.

The other follow behind and enter to find Arlon pushing the empty crates around. “I figured this ship would have something like this,” he says as he uncovers a hidden compartment. “Smuggling hatch. These small buckets tend to have them, especially ones out here in the Outer Rim. Help me lower the package in.” He pulls open the hatch and then starts moving the package from Hondo in with the help of the others. Once it’s in, they cover it up with the empty crates again.

* * *

During the time in warp space, Dmitri becomes curious about the effects of warp space on organic matter, so he fetches a bowl from the mess area and fills it from the slop machine. H looks on with curiosity as Dmitri takes it to the airlock and seals it inside. The Romanov then opens the exterior airlock and watches as the bowl is sucked out into warp space.

“Fascinating,” H mumbles as he watches the slop turn into a glowing rainbow mass as if floats along into warp space. “Dmitri, we must make more of this! We must study it!”

“What the bloody hell are you doing opening the airlock in warp space?!” Arlon’s voice suddenly sounds over the comms.

“It is a risk we must take for science!” H says into the nearby intercom.

“Whatever. Just be careful. Don’t get us all killed,” Arlon replies.

“If only I could get a sample,” H says to himself, ignoring Arlon.

“What if you secured it with String Shot or something?” Dmitri suggests.

“That’s brilliant!” H shouts. “Fetch me another bowl!”

Dmitri heads back to the mess area, then fills up another bowl with slop. Joining H once more at the airlock, Dmitri places it inside.

H then releases his newly evolved Beedrill, which had evolved shortly after the gym battle. “#2 coat the bowl with String Shot and then secure it to the floor,” the cyborg commands the Pokemon. The Beedrill flies into the airlock and coats the bowl in a cocoon and then attaches it to the floor with more sticky sting. H then recalls his Pokemon and seals the airlock.

H and Dmitri watch through the interior airlock window as the exterior airlock opens and the radioactive particles of deep warp space come flying in. The webbing turns from white to pink to rainbow to glowing black before they seal the airlock.

"Great, now we've got a radioactive blob in our airlock." Arlon complains, having been monitoring their activity. “Don’t open that airlock until we drop out of warp space and get a chance to vent it out.”

“Ugh, fine,” H replies.

* * *

When the _Dunsparce_ drops out of warp space in Romanov space, they are immediately hailed by one of the many Romanov ships guarding the gate. "State your business,” the Romanov officer who appears on the viewscreen tells them.

"We have packages to pick up in Romanov space," Arlon lies.

"Prepare to be boarded,” the officer tells him as he transmits docking instructions.

Arlon docks flies toward the Romanov ship and docks as directed, making sure to use the airlock that is not inhabited by the radioactive mess. A squad of Romanov soldiers boards the _Dunsparce_ along with the officer Arlon had talked to.

“Take us to your cargo hold,” The officer instructs the crew.

“Right this way,” Arlon tells him confidently. He leads them to the Cargo Hold and they begin to search the many empty crates. Arlon looks on, ready with a response in case they discover the smuggling hatch. Luckily the soldiers do not find it. After finishing in the cargo hold, the Romanovs do a quick sweep through the ship and the officer then clears the _Dunsparce_ to enter the Romanov Union.

Arlon returns to the cockpit and detaches the ship from the Romanov cruiser. Once clear, he plugs in the coordinates of the Alexi System and makes the jump back into warp space.

* * *

When the _Dunsparce_ drops out of warp space in the Alexi System, Arlon spots a meteor field and decides to check it out. “Just a heads up,” he says over the ship’s comms. “We’ve arrived, but there’s a meteor field here passing by and I thought we should go check it out.”

“Is that safe?” Morgan asks him.

“It is as long as I’m your pilot, luv,” he tells her.

Arlon flies the _Dunsparce_ between the meteors and spots a large opening in one of the bigger ones. He then flies the ship inside and eventually emerges into a massive cavern. “Holy shit, that’s a lot of bloody Hydreigons,” Arlon says aloud. The cavern is full of the massive three-headed dragon Pokemon, flying around a frozen lake. He thinks one will make a great addition to his team, but realizes the crew isn’t properly equipped to capture such a powerful Pokemon yet.

“Ah,” he says when he spots a lone Deino wandering off away from the Hydreigons. “That little bugger’s mine.”

Arlon lands the ship near the Deino and then gets up from his seat. “Meet me at the airlock,” he says into the comms. “I need help with something.” He heads for the airlock himself and then releases his Graveler.

“Terra, I need you to head out the airlock and grab the Deino out there and bring it onto the ship,” Arlon instructs his Pokemon. He opens the interior airlock and the Graveler steps in. A few minutes later, Terra returns with the Deino trapped in her four arms. Arlon seals the exterior airlock as the rest of the crew arrives.

“Why have we been called here?” H asks.

“To help me catch this, mate,” Arlon tells him as he opens the airlock.

“Ah!” H exclaims. “Very well! #2!” H releases his Beedrill and then points at the Deino. “Use String Shot!” The beedrill blasts the Deino with string, further trapping it in Terra’s grasp.

“Gigan, keep hitting it with False Swipe!” Dmitri commands as he releases his Scyther. The Green Pokemon moves up and repeatedly strikes the trapped Pokemon with her blades. Once it looks sufficiently hurt, Dmitri blasts it with psychic energy, sending it into a state of confusion.

“That’ll do,” Arlon tells him as he pulls out the last of his Great Balls. He throws it at the Deino and the Pokemon is pulled inside with ease. The ball shakes once before falling still as Arlon reaches to pick it up

“Thanks for the assist,” Arlon tells his crewmates as he places his new capture on his belt. He then recalls his Graveler and turns to head back to the cockpit.

“No problem,” Dmitri tells him.

Before taking off again, the crew vents out the airlock  with the radioactive blob in it. Warp energy floats out of the open airlock in brilliant displays of color. Once the radiation subsides, they seal the airlock and H collects his experiment. He and Dmitri take it to the lab to study while Arlon takes the _Dunsparce_ up and out of the meteor.

* * *

Before the H and Dmitri get a good chance to study the strange warp goo they created, the _Dunsparce_ arrives at the coordinates Hondo had provided them with. A space station orbits the swamp planet at the given coordinates. Arlon hails the station and requests permission to land.

A Romanov scientist appears on the viewscreen. "What do you want?" he asks.

"We have a package delivery from Aarn Hondo,” Arlon tells him.

"Ah, yes," the man replies. “Here are docking instructions.”

Arlon docks the _Dunsparce_ as the docking tube the scientist instructed. He meets the crew in the cargo hold and together they bring the package out from the smuggling hatch. They bring the package off the ship where they are greeted by the scientist and a couple of guards.

"I trust the containment seal remains intact?" the scientist asks.

"Indeed. We did not open it," Arlon assures him.

“Very good. You may leave.”

Morgan and Arlon turn to head back to the ship, but H and Dmitri instead follow the scientist. “I said you could leave,” the scientist tells them.

“But I am curious to know what is inside the package,” H replies.

“Oh, really? And why should I show you?”

“We are both very interested in what is inside, comrade,” Dmitri tells them. “Would you please show us in the name of scientific knowledge?”

“Oh, fellow scientists?” the Romanov man asks, sounded quite charmed by Dmitri. “Very well. I will allow you a look. Follow me.” He turns and begins to bring the package into the station with H and Dmitri in tow.

“Stay with the ship,” Arlon tells Morgan with a sigh. “I’ll follow and make sure they stay out of trouble.”

Arlon easily slips past the guards and sneaks into the station’s air ducts. He follows the scientist and his crewmates down a few halls until they arrive in some sort of viewing area.

The package is brought behind the containment area and it is carefully opened by mechanical arms. Through the vent and glass, Arlon sees some sort of ancient looking fossil. “Fascinating, isn’t it?” the scientist asks H and Dmitri.

“Truly!” H responds.

Suddenly another scientist arrives and addresses the other: "Sir, we have collected enough specimens to begin production."

"Excellent." the apparent head scientist replies. "I'm afraid I have to ask you to leave now," he says as he turns to H and Dmitri. As it is clear they can go no further, the two head back to the ship. However, Arlon presses further on into the air ducts, seeing if he can find a way to see what lies within the facility.

He eventually emerges from the air ducts onto a high up maintenance platform overlooking a massive factory that seems to be producing some kind of Pokemon from a ton of fossils that look similar to the one they delivered. They are moving down an assembly line where they are being armed and mounted with giant cannons.

“What the bloody hell is this place?” Arlon asks himself, not liking what he sees in the slightest. He pulls out his Pokedex and snaps some pictures before heading back to the _Dunsparce_ .

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was the last chapter before I started taking notes on the sessions, so, like the last two rewrites, I had to fudge a lot of the details on this one, specifically with the gym fight. But as opposed to the last two chapters, I remembered what happened in this fight a lot better. Probably because of how my Geodude tanked that Golem and evolved way earlier than it would have normally. I decided to give the gym leader a name and stuff like that too. Since the gym was in orbit around a half destroyed planet I decided that Ragnarök was the perfect name for it. Based on that I decided the previously non-descript gym leader was from Geneva (New Sweden specifically) and named him by combining the name of frontmen from two awesome Swedish metal bands. (Amon Amarth and At The Gates, if you were wondering)
> 
> That Shuckle though… It was a hard foe to fight be had the advantage of numbers so we triumphed in the end! Then it was onto the discovery of what was in the package! That was the first big plot point we had and it was such a great way to end the session. If you couldn't tell, those mechanical fossil Pokemon were, in fact, Genesect!


	6. Volume 1, Chapter 4: Tangling with Trevenant!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> H's experiments have unexpected consequences, putting the lives of his crewmates in danger.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Much like the last chapter, I rewrote this one months after the original was posted, touching up the details and bringing the quality up to my standards. However, by this point I had started taking notes on the sessions, so I had a bit more to work with when going back to rewrite the chapters starting with this one. Not much else to say here, so enjoy!

“This place is bad news,” Arlon announces when he arrives back on the ship.

“What do you mean?” Morgan asks him.

“That package contained some kind of Pokemon fossil,” Arlon explains. “They’re only using it to clone a bloody army of the things.”

“An army? That doesn’t sound good. I’ll see if I can steal some data.”

“Good idea, luv. I’ll get the ship out of here.”

As Arlon detaches the _Dunsparce_ from the docking tube, Morgan hacks into the station’s network and manages to grab a big package of data before the ship flies out of range. Arlon takes the ship down to the swamp planet so that the crew can discuss their plan of action.

* * *

“What did you manage to find?” Arlon asks Morgan.

“I’m not sure,” Morgan informs him. “I managed to get a lot of files, but they’re heavily encrypted. It will take a long time to sort through it all.”

“I guess we’ll have to wait before we do anything about the scientists,” Arlon tells the crew.

“In the meantime, I would like to conduct some experiments on this planet using that goo we created!” H exclaims.

“Fine,” Arlon tells him. “Better out there than on the ship. And we may as well look for some Pokemon while we’re here.”

The crew disembarks from the _Dunsparce_ and heads out into the swampy wilderness to explore and experiment. H injects a nearby shrub with his a sample of the goo which causes it to turn black and two purple flowers with glowing pink cores appear on it.

H pokes a stick through one of the cores and the tip emerges out the other. “Interesting,” H says to himself. He determines that the flowers seem to be miniature warp gates and any object placed into the core of one flower appears out the core of the other. Dmitri picks one of the flowers which causes a burst of energy to shoot out from it as it implodes in his hand. Then the shrub shrivels up and dies.

“That was certainly unexpected,” H comments.

The crew moves on and arrives at a small pond. Arlon spots a loan Froakie sitting on a lilypad “That would make a nice addition to my team,” Arlon says to himself. He reaches to his belt and pulls out a ball. “Hydra, use Dragonbreath!” he commands as he releases his Deino. The Pokemon lets out a surge of dragon flames which strike the Froakie and knock it off the lilypad into the water.

In response to the new threat, the three lilypads in the pond emerge from the water, revealing themselves to be Lotads! Seeing this, Morgan releases her Eevee. “Yvonne, get in the water and attack one of them,” she instructs the Pokemon. Yvonne jumps into the water and begins swimming toward the Lotads.

H steps up and fires an electric Shock Wave into the the water, electrocuting everything in the pond. Arlon quickly throws a pokeball at Froakie and catches it just before it gets knocked out. “What the hell!?” Morgan shouts at H. “My Eevee is in there!”

“Oh, relax,” H tells her. “It’s fine. I’ll just heal it up later.”

“It doesn’t matter if it’s fine,” Arlon tells him. “Watch your friendly fire, mate.”

Returning their focus to the battle, the crew mop up the lotads and Morgan, Dmitri, and H each catch one. When the fighting ends, Dmitri pulls out his fishing rod and begins fishing in the pond. After a few minutes, he gets a bite and reels in a Magikarp. He pulls out a Pokeball and throws it at the fish Pokemon, catching it with ease.

Dmitri casts the line out once again, and reels in another Magikarp. “I just caught one of these…” Dmitri grumbles.

“I’ll take that one, mate,” Arlon tells him.

“Go ahead.”

Arlon pulls out a Pokeball and throws it at the Magikarp, capturing it without a struggle just like Dmitri. Dmitri throws out the line one more time and this time he reels in a Totodile. “Huh,” he says. “Anyone want it?”

“I’ll take it,” Morgan tells him. “Yvonne, use Quick Attack!” The Eevee runs at it and delivers a powerful hit. Morgan then pulls out a ball and tosses it at the Totodile, capturing it without much struggle.

“Are we done sitting around doing nothing?” H asks impatiently. I would like to continue my experiments!”

“Go ahead, mate,” Arlon tells him.

* * *

H returns to the ship to get another sample of goo before the crew continues exploring. “We need to find a larger specimen,” he tells his crewmates.

“How about that tree?” Dmitri suggests, pointing to a large tree in the distance.

“That will do nicely,” H tells him. He sets off toward the tree with the rest of the crew close behind.

As they approach, the swampy forest gives way to a large clearing with sparse trees, the large one looming in the center. H wastes no time in injecting this tree with the goo. After a few moments, glowing pink sap starts oozing from the wound that was made in the tree.

"Amazing,” H says enthusiastically. “If only I had something to collect this with."

"I still have this bottle of vodka." Dmitri offers.

"Very good. Dump it out so that I may collect this sap."

"No. I never waste good alcohol,” Dmitri says proudly as a true Romanov. “I must drink it." 

Dmitri pulls out the bottle of vodka and then proceeds to down the entire bottle. When he finishes, he falls on the ground coughing and sputtering. H checks to make sure he is still breathing. “He’ll be okay,” he announces.

“Uh, guys. The tree is turning black,” Arlon tells his crewmates, drawing their attention back to the tree.

Glowing, pulsating veins appear along the surface of the blackened bark. Morgan hears a pounding inside her head, throbbing to the rhythm of the pulsing veins. “We should get out of here!” she shouts.

Suddenly the tree vanishes, leaving a giant hole where it once stood. “I don’t think that’ll do any good at this point,” Arlon tells her. He reaches for a Pokeball and starts backing away from the hole. He sends out his Deino and the others follow suit, releasing their own Pokemon. “I’ve got a real bad feeling about this,” Arlon tells his crewmates.

As if on cue, the tree appears behind them and swipes at them with its large limbs! With his quick reflexes, Arlon dives out of the way but but the others and their Pokemon are not so lucky. The rest of the crew are knocked to the ground and Dmitri’s Beldum and Morgan’s Solrock are completely knocked out.

Gathering their wits, the crew assesses the situation. A massive tree-creature stands before them, its bark a pale and ghostly white. “Great job, mate,” Arlon jabs at H. “You made a giant murderous Trevenant!”

Dmitri raises his hand and unleashes a blast of energy at the Trevenant, sending it into a confused rampage. “Now, Gigan, Wing Attack!” Dmitri shouts as he releases his Scyther. The Pokemon charges at the Trevenant and slashes at it with her wing but she doesn’t appear to leave so much as a scratch.

“Hydra, use Crunch!” Arlon commands his Deino. The Pokemon runs up the the large tree and lunges at it with her teeth barred. Unfortunately, Hydra is unable to make contact. The Trevenant looks down at the Dieno and swipes at her, knocking her out. 

“Alright, you’re up next Crocuta!” Arlon shouts as he sends out his Poochyena. “Use Bite!” The Pokemon rushes the Trevenant and sinks her teeth in, finally delivering a harsh blow to the Pokemon.

The crew slowly whittles the Trevenant down as they use their numbers to overwhelm it. Finally it starts showing signs of weakness. “Almost there, just a little more,” Arlon shouts words of encouragement. “Crocuta, use Bite again!” The Pokemon runs up and sinks her teeth into the Trevenant once again. She starts glowing as she continues to hold onto the Trevenant with her jaws and evolves into Mightyena!

“Now it’s mine!” H shouts. He throws a pokeball which strikes the Trevenant right in the face and pulls it inside. The ball falls to the ground. It shakes once.... twice... three times.... and it's caught!

Arlon breathes a sigh of relief. “Well that just happened… Next time, be more bloody careful with your _experiments_.”

Morgan starts freaking out and bursts into tears. "Oh my God this is not okay!"

"That was incredible!" H proudly exclaims, completely ignoring Morgan.

"Hey, we should-" Dmitri starts.

"Shut up, mate, you're drunk," Arlon interrupts him. Dmitri fall to the ground, completely passed out. “H, help me throw him on your Rhyhorn so we can get him back to the ship.”

“Very well,” H agrees.  The two of them lift Dmitri off the ground and get him on top of H’s Pokemon.

H starts leading the Rhyhorn back to the ship while Arlon walks over to Morgan. “C’mon luv, let’s get out of here,” he says to her, offering his hand to help her up. She ignores him and stands up on her own. Arlon shrugs and follows her back to the ship.

* * *

Once back in space, Arlon sets the _Dunsparce_ to stay in orbit while the crew recuperates from the fight with the Trevenant. He then heads to his room and pulls up the Spacenet to see if he can find any info on the Red Suns’ activities.

Arlon strokes Crocuta’s soft fur as he scrolls through various pages. Unfortunately due to the heavy censorship of the Spacenet within the Romanov Union, he really can’t find much of anything. Giving up, Arlon lays back on his bed and tries to get some rest.

A short while later, Arlon’s nap is interrupted by the movement of the ship. Being a pilot, Arlon is quite attuned to the movements of the ship and knows that someone has started flying the ship. He gets up and heads to the cockpit to find out what’s going on.

When he arrives, he finds Morgan piloting the ship. “I thought we agreed that I’d be the one to fly the ship from now on,” He says.

No response.

"Right then. So where are we going?" he asks.

"Home," says Morgan.

"What for?"

"I need to get away from all this. From these experiments, from _them_ ," she says, pointing to H and the freshly woken and hungover Dmitri who had just walked in behind Arlon.

"Look," says Arlon. "I don't think going back to the Confederacy is the best thing to do right now. It's not someplace I want to go. Let’s just say I’ve been staying in the Outer Rim for a reason."

"I don't care," Morgan responds coldly.

"Wow. I thought we were all friends here. I said it when we first got the package, luv. I can drop you off wherever and then we can be on our way. Just don’t make me go back to bloody Genevan space."

Morgan ignores him.

“We don’t have time for this,” H tells her. “I need to go to Sinai space to I can find out more about the warp goo!”

Arlon and Dmitri spend the next several minutes trying to persuade Morgan, but nothing seems to change her mind. Finally, Dmitri gives up and puts Morgan to sleep. Dmitri and H bring Morgan to her room while Arlon sits down in the pilot seat and sets a course for the warp gate.

* * *

The _Dunsparce_ drops out of warp space at the gate and the ship is once again hailed by one of the Romanov cruisers guarding it. The ship simply sends the _Dunsparce_ docking instructions so Arlon complies and docks with the cruiser.

Arlon heads to the airlock and greets the Romanov officer and his men. “Routine inspection,” the officer tells him.

The Romanov inspectors find nothing amiss in the cargo hold so they proceed to search the rest of the ship. When they arrive at the bridge, Arlon notices a blinking light on the console, indicating a message.

"You have missed call," the Romanov officer tells him.

"Ah, yes, it seems that I do. I’ll get to that as soon as you finish your inspection."

The Romanov officer gives Arlon a judgmental glance. "It is not polite to keep people waiting," he says. He then turns and departs from the bridge.

The Romanovs disembark from the ship and the _Dunsparce_ is cleared to go through the gate. Arlon flies the ship into the gate with a course set for Sinai space.

“So, we’ve got a message,” Arlon announces over the comms.

A short while later the rest of the crew joins him in the cockpit. Morgan, who is now awake, seems to have calmed down a bit. “Where are we going?” she asks.

“Sinai space,” Arlon tells her.

“Oh,” she says, sounding a bit annoyed.

“Right then,” Arlon continues. “Shall we listen to this message?”

He presses the button on the console and the message begins to play: "Greetings _GCS Dunsparce_. I understand that you have made an interesting discovery. My employer would very much like to acquire a sample and is willing to pay. You can find us at any of these coordinates." Along with the audio, the message also displays five different sets of coordinates, one of them in the Sinai Sector they are currently headed to. 

“Well, that doesn’t sound suspicious at all,” Arlon says sarcastically. “But on the other hand, we do need the money.”

“I don’t think it’s a good idea to sell that _stuff_ ,” Morgan responds.

“I say we at least think about it,” Arlon tells her. “What’s the worst that could happen?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> With all the detail I packed into the rewritten chapters, I couldn't really keep them all at one per session all the time anymore, which was often the case from Volume 2 onward. The first three sessions were shorter plus they were written from memory the first time around so even adding in all that detail wasn’t making them long enough to warrant multiple chapters per session. Session 4 was the session where I started taking notes to assist with the writing of the chapters, so I already had a lot more to work with when it came time to rewrite this one. Not to mention this session started our precedent for going for around six hours per session.
> 
> It made sense to split it here because there was the whole business with the Trevenant at the start of this session and the second half was quite different. Speaking of the Trevenant, that was our first “boss fight,” so to speak. But that’s what you get when you inject a tree with warp goo: a shiny, teleporting Trevenant.
> 
> This was also the first instance of a character breaking. The funny part is that the GM did it completely unintentionally.


	7. Volume 1, Chapter 5: Who is Mr. Silver?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Dunsparce crew investigates the strange message they recieved. Along the way, they pick up a new passenger.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Much like the last chapter, I rewrote this one months after the original was posted, touching up the details and bringing the quality up to my standards. However, by this point I had started taking notes on the sessions, so I had a bit more to work with when going back to rewrite the chapters starting with this one. We also picked up a new player this session, so I hope enjoy his character!

The _Dunsparce_ drops out of the Warp into Sinai space. Almost immediately, the ship picks up a distress signal and Arlon decides to investigate. “I’m picking up a distress signal,” he says over the comms. “Let’s go see if we can lend a hand.”

As the _Dunsparce_ approaches the origin of the distress signal, Arlon spots a stalled Sinai ship. He hails the vessel but there is no response. He brings the _Dunsparce_ in and docks with the ship.

The crew meets up at the airlock and boards the Sinai ship. They are greeted by a monk with a somewhat panicked look on his face. "Thank goodness,” he says to them.

"What seems to be the problem, mate?" Arlon asks.

"Well, we detected a stowaway and then all our systems started going haywire. We only just started to get power back and managed to send out a distress signal."

“Any idea what caused it?” Arlon asks the monk.

“No. That’s what we’ve been trying to figure out."

"Mind if we take a look at you sensors?" Arlon asks.

"Certainly not." says the monk, showing the party to the sensors.

Arlon glances at the life signs sensors, and all the signatures check out for those on board save for one odd signature that seems to be moving between the cargo bay and the engine room. “What the hell is this thing?” Arlon asks in regard to the strange signature. “I bet that’s what your problem is. Can you take us to the cargo hold?”

“Right this way,” the monk tells him. He and two other monks escort the crew of the _Dunsparce_ to the Cargo hold and allow them to have a look around.

Arlon releases his Mightyena. “Crocuta, see if you can’t pick up any strange scents,” he commands the Pokemon. The Mightyena begins to sniff around the room, but she can’t seem to pick up anything of interest. “Guess we’ll have to do this the old fashioned way.”

The crew fans out and begins manually searching the crates, but they continue to turn up nothing. As she searches, one of the crates begins to give Morgan a strange feeling so she walks over to it and opens it up. As soon as she slides the lid off, a teenage boy with electric blue hair and very brightly colored clothing jumps out of the crate..

"YOU!" one of the monks shouts. He and the other two monks reach for their Pokeballs.

"Who the bloody hell is this guy?" Arlon asks, surprised to see such a harsh reaction from Sinai monks.

"It is an internal Sinai matter and none of your concern."

"Well we only helped you find the bloody guy. I think that warrants more of an explanation, don’t you mate?”

"He is an escaped experiment and none of your concern."

“I am a superior being!” H declares. “I demand that you tell me more!” This only serves to farther anger the monks, causing them to throw out their Pokemon: A Jynx, a Xatu, and a Delphox.

“So that’s how it’s gonna be, huh?” Arlon asks. “We can still talk about this.”

“Do not interfere.”

“No, can’t do, mate. If you want the kid, you’ll have to go through us,” Arlon tells the monks as the blue haired guy slowly moves behind him and his crewmates.

“#4, it is time to show me what you can do!” H exclaims as he releases his newly captured Trevenant. Morgan starts to back away uneasily when she sees the Trevenant, but the situation at hand keeps her from freaking out again.

The monks silently look on as they wordlessly command their Pokemon. The Jynx prioritizes the Trevenant and rushes at the Pokemon with an icy punch. The Xatu immediately follows up with a blast of psychic energy. Meanwhile, the Delphox surrounds itself with three fireballs. 

“Crocuta, use Bite!” Arlon commands his Mightyena. “Hit that Delphox hard!” His Pokemon runs up to the Delphox and sinks her teeth into the Pokemon dealing a nasty injury. In response, the Delphox throws one of the fireballs it summoned at Crocuta, dealing a nasty blow in kind.

“Yvonne, finish it off with Quick Attack!” Morgan instructs her Eevee. The Delphox throws another fireball at the Yvonne as she rushes at it. Despite being hit, the Eevee leaps at the Delphox and slams into it, knocking it out. 

“You next, Gigan!” Dmitri shouts as he releases his Scyther. “Use Pursuit!” Gigan rushes at the Jynx and swipes at her using her sharp blades.

“#4, use Feint Attack!” H commands his Trevenant. The large tree Pokemon rushes forward and swipes at the Jynx with his powerful limbs. The combined attacks of the Scyther and Trevenant are enough to take down the Jynx, leaving only the Xatu.

The Xatu fires off another blast of psychic energy at the Trevenant, but it seems relatively unfazed. “Crocuta, finish it off!” Arlon commands his Pokemon. The Mightyena charges the Xatu and takes a nasty bite out of it, taking the Pokemon down instantly. Having been defeated, The monks flee from the cargo hold in the direction the warp drive.

“Time to go!” Arlon shouts. He and the rest of the crew begin running back toward the _Dunsparce_. He grabs a hold of the blue haired stowaway as he passes him. “C’mon, kid. You’d best come with us.”

As soon as he gets onto the _Dunsparce_ , Arlon runs for the bridge and detaches from the Sinai ship just before it warps away. “That was a bloody close one,” Arlon sighs. Out of danger, Arlon kicks the ship into autopilot and then turns to face the rest of the crew as well as their new passenger. “Alright, mate. Who the hell are you?”

“My name is Shane,” he responds.

“Alright, Shane. What the hell was up with those monks back there?”

"Do you know about AI?" Shane asks.

"Well, yeah," Arlon tells him.

"An inferior form of computing that was abandoned because it is not as powerful as a living mind,” H chimes in.

“Not abandoned,” Morgan points out. “While current AI can’t think on their own, they still have their uses.”

“But cyborgs are the way of the future. Organic matter to think and machine to do."

"Well, what if I told you that the Sinai created a much more evolved AI that could think freely?” Shane asks.

"I would say that's impossible," H replies.

"That AI is me," Shane tells him.

"I see. Well let me show you to your room,” H tells him. He then starts leading him in the direction of the airlock.

"The rooms are that way, mate,” Arlon tells H sternly. “Don’t even think about throwing him out the airlock, or it’ll be you floating out in space.”

“What?” Shane asks as he eyes H with suspicion.

“Relax, mate. This guy’s just a bit crazy. We won’t let him do anything to you. Right H?”

“Alright, fine,” H agrees. “But I’m keeping an eye on him.”

“Oh, I’m not saying I trust the guy,” Arlon tells him. “I just think we ought to show him a bit of decency. Well, now that that’s out of the way, let’s talk about the goo. What do we want to do?”

“What goo?” Shane asks.

“Let’s just say our fine friend over here decided to expose a bowl of slop to warp space,” Arlon explains as he looks over at H.

“That… sounds dangerous,” Shane responds.

“That’s what I said. Anyway, some guy apparently wants to pay us for samples of it. All we got was a set of coordinates. The whole thing seems very shady.”

“And you’re going to just give it up like that? It could be dangerous.”

“Look, mate, we really need the money. I say we should at least check it out.”

“I agree,” says Dmitri.

“I guess we can check it out,” Morgan agrees. “But if it seems sketchy, we’re leaving.”

“Well that settles it,” Arlon decides. He turns back to the controls and begins to fly the ship to the coordinates.

* * *

After a brief jump, the _Dunsparce_ arrives at a large, fancy looking ship. Arlon hails the ship and receives a transmission with docking instructions and the words _Mr. Silver will see you now_.

Arlon flies the _Dunsparce_ into the designated hangar bay and sets it down. The crew and Shane disembark from the ship with some samples of the goo and the tree sap and are greeted by a squad of heavily armed but professionally polite guards. “This way, please,” one of the guards tells them. 

As they are escorted by the guards, the crew gets a pretty good look around. The ship seems to have all kinds of sensors and monitors everywhere but it is also very stylish with lots of light and lush red carpets. They are eventually lead to a dimly lit office and the doors are shut behind them. A lone figure stands in the back of the room, looking out the viewport into space. In the dim light, it is hard to get a good look at the figure.

“Hello?” Morgan asks.

At Morgan’s words, the figure turns to face the crew. They all recognize the form of a Mr. Mime, but there is something strange about it. It appears to be cybernetically modified and has various receivers on it and it has a screen for a face. They all get the feeling that it is being controlled by someone else.

"Greetings,” a digitally filtered voice, presumably that of Mr. Silver, emanates from the Pokemon. “I see you brought both samples with you.” A sound wave moves on the screen as he speaks.

"How did you know about that?" Arlon asks.

"I know many things."

"I prefer to talk to somebody in person,” H tells him. “I don't like making deals when I can't see their face."

"I am very far away."

"We can come to you."

"That would be inconvenient... I conduct various business dealings throughout the galaxy... I find the only effective solution is to be in multiple places at once."

There is a long pause as the crew appraises the situation. Shane in particular appears to be terrified.

Mr. Silver seems to make note of their apprehensiveness, then redirects the conversation back to business. "I see you brought your other creation as well,” he says; a scan of the Trevenant appears on his screen-face. “How willing are you to part with these samples?"

"That would depend on your intentions," H tells him.

"My intention are my own."

"I must know what you are planning to do with them. I cannot become better without acquiring more knowledge."

"Ah yes... Experiment #1749XQR5Z-H, your name has crossed my desk before. I believe we may be able to come to some sort of arrangement. I will provide five-thousand credits for each sample."

"We can provide the goo and the sap as long as we can keep some samples for ourselves," H tells him. "But #4 is mine and I intend to keep it."

"Very well."

"I don't suppose you could give us a little more for these samples?" Arlon asks.

"What more could I possibly give?"

"Well these samples seem very valuable to you, and we went through a hell of a lot to get them. You clearly have a bloody lot of money, so five-thousand seems a bit low."

"Money, is that all you bounty hunters care about? I believe there is more to you than that. Only time will tell if you will find the answers you seek."

"And what about you? What is it you want?" he says, turning his attention back to H.

"Knowledge. How can I be the most superior being if I do not know all there is to know about these specimens? If I am to give them to you I want to know what you are doing with them."

"Knowledge is an honorable goal." Then turning to Dmitri, "What is it that you want?"

"To catch more Pokemon," Dmitri replies enthusiastically.

"Interesting. And what about you?" he asks Morgan.

"I want to go home."

"And what is home?"

"The Geneva Confederacy."

"Not where, but what. What is home? Will you really find it by going back to Geneva? No. It is up to you to decide whether you will get there by going forward or by going back."

"And what is it that you want then, mate?" Arlon asks, turning the tables on Mr. Silver.

There is a brief silence. Mr. Silver seems to be contemplating.

"I will give you each five-thousand credits for the samples, and a set of coordinates. They are in an uncharted sector in the Outer Rim. There is no gate that reaches this location. It is for you to decide what to do with these coordinates. Will you go forward or will you go back? You've proven yourselves resourceful so far, it is up to you to decide if you will continue to do so."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And thus Shane joined the party! Originally, there were supposed to be five of us, but the fifth player dropped out last minute, so we played the first three sessions with just four of us. Our new player spent the majority of the session finishing up his character building, which is why he didn’t make an appearance in the first chapter from this session.
> 
> And of course how could we forget about the enigmatic and mysterious Mr. Silver. What an interesting character. According to the GM, he was created out of the necessity to begin tying the plot points together. And he did so perfectly, creating what was essentially the conclusion of Act I of Volume 1. You may remember getting a little tease of Mr. Silver at the end of Arlon's origin story, but now you can put a name to that mysterious voice.


	8. Volume 1, Chapter 6: Silicron Showdown!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Dunsparce crew travels to the planet Silicron to challenge the Fire Gym.

“What the bloody hell happened in there?” Arlon asks the crew when they return to the _Dunsparce_. 

“I’m not really sure myself,” Shane tells him.

“Something just seemed off about that guy,” Arlon continues.

“Definitely,” Shane agrees.

“So, are we going to go to those coordinates?” Dmitri asks.

“They’re in a bloody uncharted sector, mate,” Arlon points out.

“I still think we should go,” Dmitri insists.

“It might be interesting,” Shane chimes in.

Arlon looks at the faces of his crewmates and sees that they are all determined to travel to the mystery coordinates. “Alright, looks like we’re headed to the mystery coordinates then. I still think this is mental, but if you lot want to go…” he trails off. “Right then, before we go anywhere, we need to prepare ourselves. First, we need to figure out how the bloody hell we’re going to get to a sector without a gate. That could take a while so in the meantime we should train our Pokemon. I say we challenge another gym.”

“Which one?” Dmitri asks.

“Let’s see,” Arlon says as he sits down in the pilot’s seat and checks the nav computer. “The nearest one is on Silicron. Fire type, if I remember. That planet’s pretty nasty, so we may want to get some heat-resistant gear. I’ll plot a course that takes us near somewhere where we can get some supplies.”

* * *

The _Dunsparce_ drops out of warp space in Sector 35 and Arlon brings the ship into orbit around the planet Silicron, a harsh volcanic desert word infamous for its brutal heat and unpredictable temperature spikes. _Quite the location for the Fire Gym_ , Arlon muses. He reaches for the comms and informs the crew that they’ve arrived.

Heeding Arlon’s call, Shane heads up toward the front of the ship. As he passes through the living quarters and notices a Pokedex lying on the ground. He picks it and sees that it was left on and was viewing a series of messages. Not interested in snooping, Shane only gives a cursory glance through the Dex until he determines that it belongs to Morgan. Figuring that he will find her near the cockpit, he continues on his way so that he can give the Pokedex back to her.

When he arrives at the computer room behind the cockpit, Shane finds Morgan extremely focused on doing something on the computer. “I think this belongs to you,” he says to her as he holds out the Pokedex.

She doesn’t respond.

“Are you okay?” Shane asks her.

Morgan continue to ignore him, remaining focused on whatever it is that she is doing.

Suddenly H's Rhyhorn comes leaping out of nowhere in an attempt to grab the Pokedex. With his quick reflexes, Shane easily dodges out of the way and then angrily looks over at H, who has just entered the room.

"What are you doing!?" Shane yells at him.

"#1 has smelled something interesting," H explains.

“Your Rhyhorn could have hurt someone!”

“Nonsense! No one was in any danger. #1 was just investigating this Pokedex, which Morgan clearly does not want.”

“You do realize how ridiculous that sounds, don’t you?”

Hearing all the commotion, Arlon steps into the room to investigate. "What the bloody hell is going on back here?!" He shouts at his crewmates.  H and Shane ignore him and continue to argue amongst themselves. “I can’t believe I have to put up with this crap,” he grumbles to himself. He quickly assesses the situation, and determines Morgan’s Pokedex to have been to cause of the problem. Before anyone realizes it, Arlon walks over, takes the Pokedex, puts it in Morgan’s pocket and then returns to the cockpit.

Arlon sits himself down in the pilot’s seat and takes the ship down toward Silicon’s surface. As the ship descends, a warning flashes on the console. _Warning: Surface temperatures exceed recommended landing parameters_. He dismisses the warning, then cranks the shields up to maximum and continues to search for a good landing point.

Eventually Arlon finds a nice spot and sets the ship down. He then meets up with the rest of the crew so they can discuss what to do. “I set the ship down on the surface,” Arlon tells his crewmates. “I figure we can find some good Pokemon to capture here before we challenge the gym. I’m headed out there now. Anyone care to join me?”

“I’ll go,” Dmitri answers.

“And I as well,” says H.

“I’ll stay here,” Shane tells the rest of the crew as he glances over at Morgan. “Someone should keep an eye on her.”

“Good idea, mate,” Arlon agrees. He then goes with H and Dmitri to prepare to depart from the ship.

Before jumping to Sector 35, the _Dunsparce_ had stopped at a Sinai merchant station to pick up some supplies. Arlon had picked up a heat-resistant suit and had encouraged the others to do the same, but no one heeded his warnings. They had, however, all chipped in to purchase a space suit for the ship.

“Be careful with that, mate,” Arlon tells Dmitri who is putting on the space suit in lieu of a heat suit.

“I will,” Dmitri assures him.

Once Arlon and Dmitri get their suits on, they follow H out into the harsh climate of Silicron. “You sure you’re alright without a protective suit, mate?” Arlon asks H.

“Of course!” H exclaims before leading the way.

After a walking a good ways, the trio comes across a Slugma and a Cyndaquil chilling out by some lava. Before they can react, a group of three Numels suddenly runs by with a pair of Houndours in hot pursuit.

“A Houndour will do nicely on my team,” Arlon says to himself. He pulls out one of his Pokeballs and releases his Froakie. The other two follow suit and release Gastly and Rhyhorn. 

“Wilhelm, Confuse Ray,” Dmitri instructs his Gastly. The Pokemon sends a strange wave of psychic energy at one of the Houndours and sends it into a confused daze. Dmitri then follows up with the same attack, confusing the other as well.

“Jiraiya, use Water Pulse!” Arlon instructs his Pokemon. The Froakie leaps forward and fires a blast of water at one of the Houndours. The Houndour runs at Jiraiya for a counterattack but falls flat on its face. “And now for the capture,” Arlon says as he pulls out a Pokeball. He throws it at the fallen Houndour and captures it.

“#1, attack those Numels!” H commands his Rhyhorn. The Pokemon plows into the Numel and starts racking up some hits on one of them. H throws a Pokeball at it and successfully captures it while the other two begin attacking his Pokemon.

“Wilhelm, Night Shade!” Dmitri commands his Pokemon. The Gastly fires off a blast of dark energy at the remaining Houndour. Before it gets a chance to react, Dmitri pulls out a Pokeball and quickly throws it, easily capturing the Pokemon.

“Jiraiya, use Water Pulse and take down one of those Numels!” Arlon commands his Pokemon. The Froakie turns his attention toward the Numels around H’s Rhyhorn and fires off another pulse of water, taking one of them down.

“Now, #1, use Stomp!” H commands his Rhyhorn. The Pokemon lifts his foot and slams it down on the remaining Numel, dealing a pretty hefty blow. Dmitri then pulls out a Pokeball and throws it, successfully capturing it.

H recalls his injured Rhyhorn while the other two go after the remaining Pokemon. Arlon easily captures the Cyndaquil while Dmitri has a bit of trouble with the Slugma. Dmitri ends up wasting all his Pokeballs on it, but finally captures it with his last one. As the battle wraps up, Dmitri’s Gastly begins to glow and it evolves into a Haunter.

While Dmitri checks out his newly evolved Pokemon, Arlon notices the sand the sand beneath their feet starting to turn to glass. The glass begins to crack and glow red and the temperature begins to increase rapidly.

"Run!" Arlon shouts to his crewmates. He begins bolting back to the ship with Dmitri and H close behind.

* * *

Back on the ship, Shane begins to grow tired of watching Morgan stare so intently at the screen and decides to help her do whatever it was that she is trying to do. Being an AI, he pops himself into the computer to have a look from the inside. From what he can tell, Morgan appears to be attempting to decrypt some heavily encrypted data.

While Shane does want to help, Morgan seems quite intent on doing things on her own, so he doesn’t provide that much assistance so as not to upset her. As Morgan continues to break through the decryption, Shane sees files on something called "Project Genesect."

Eventually Morgan finishes the decryption, and all the files are left exposed. As he begins reading through the files Shane notices a mysterious blob of data that doesn’t seem to be related to the rest. His Porygon curiously approaches the blob and begins playing around with it.

After briefly parsing through the decrypted files, Shane pops back into the real world to ask Morgan about them. As soon as he manifests himself in physical form again, Shane notices that Morgan seems to be feeling proud of herself. “So what are these files exactly?” he asks her.

“Before we met you, we delivered a package to a Romanov science station,” Morgan explains. “They were making these things,” she continues as she brings up a blueprint for some sort of cybernetic Pokemon on the screen. “They’re called Genesect, apparently. They look dangerous. The scientists seemed suspicious so we stole some data before we left.”

“I see,” Shane replies as he looks over the Specs for the Genesect. “We should probably warn someone about this.”

Before they can discuss any further, the exploration party returns to the _Dunsparce_ exhausted, out of breath, and, in H’s case, badly sunburned. Arlon immediately heads to the cockpit, running past Morgan and Shane. “Hey, Arlon, we need to talk to you about something,” Shane tells him.

“No time!” Arlon shouts as he jumps into the pilot’s seat and fires up the engines. He quickly takes the ship up, eager to be off the ground. Even with the shields set to max, the unpredictable temperature spikes and shifting magma close to the surface could put the _Dunsparce_ in danger. “Sorry about that,” Arlon calls to Shane from the cockpit. “The ground’s a bit dangerous and I thought it best we find somewhere else to land.

Arlon eventually locates the large plateau where the gym is located and sets the ship down. Once it’s settled, he joins the rest of the crew in the computer room. “Alright then, what did you want to talk about?”

“While you were gone, I decrypted the data I stole from that Romanov station,” Morgan tells him.

“So that’s what you were doing… Would it’ve killed you to tell us that?”

Morgan doesn’t say anything.

“It doesn’t matter now, anyway. What did you find out then, luv?”

“Those Pokemon they were making… They call them Genesect,” Morgan explains. She points the the blueprints on the screen and the rest of the crew takes a look.

“I don’t like the looks of this,” Arlon tells the others.

“I think we should warn someone,” Shane tells him.

“Like who?” Arlon asks. “The Alliance? The Federation? This will be stuck in bureaucratic bullshit forever.”

“But we have to do _something_ ,” Morgan tells him.

“Until we know more, there’s not really much we can do. If we’re really going to chase these mystery coordinates, we can’t worry about that right now. Now let’s do what we came here for.”

* * *

The crew steps off the _Dunsparce_ onto the plateau, out into the blistering heat and sunlight. A lone man stands a distance away, wearing nothing but a pair of rather short shorts and sunglasses.

“I am Masou McKay!” He shouts to the new arrivals as they approach. "Have you come to feel the heat!?" 

“Quite the, uh, _place_ you’ve got here, mate,” Arlon tells him sarcastically. “Not much in the way of a gym.”

“So much better to feel the burn this way!” McKay responds. “Now, are you here for a challenge or not?”

"Why else would we be on this bloody planet?" Arlon asks.

“Very well,” the gym leader responds. “You may each have one Pokemon out at a time. You may each have one extra as I expect you will be burning through them.”

“Right then, Ironhide, you’re up.” Arlon releases his Aron and steps back as the others send out Rhyhorn, Haunter, Lotad, and Porygon to back him up.

“Magmortar! Chandelure!” McKay calls out as he releases his own Pokemon. “It’s time to crank up the heat! Magmortar, give them a taste of the twin suns with Solarbeam!” The Magmortar quickly positions itself with a clear shot through #1 and Wilhelm and fires off a massive blast of solar energy from its cannons, taking the Rhyhorn down and badly injuring the Haunter.

“That didn’t go so well,” H mumbles to himself as he recalls his Rhyhorn. “#4, it’s your turn!” He sends out his Trevenant onto the field, but makes sure to keep it a ways away from McKay’s Pokemon.

“Wilhelm, Confuse Ray,” Dmitri instructs his Haunter. The ghostly Pokemon sends a blast of energy at the Chandelure sending it into a state of confusion. 

“Chandelure, it’s time to burn them up!” McKay calls to his Pokemon. The ghostly chandelier attempts to blast the challenging Pokemon but in its confused state ends up not being able to do much than sputter out a few harmless embers.

“Clément, use Nature Power!” Morgan commands her Lotad. The small Pokemon then summons up a natural attack from the planet, in this case unleashing an earthquake. The quake strikes the Magmortar, dealing a bit of damage.

“#4, use Growth!” H commands his Trevenant. The ghostly hangs back and begins to build up power, aided by the strong light of the twin suns.

“Ironhide, use Rock Slide!” Arlon commands his Aron. The Pokemon charges at the Magmortar, kicking up a surge of rocks as it goes, and then slams them into the fiery Pokemon, dealing a severe blow.

“D.A.T.A., use Psybeam!” Shane shouts to his Porygon. The Pokemon fires a beam of psychic energy at the Magmortar. 

“Magmortar, dodge it!” McKay commands. Despite its injuries, the blast Pokemon manages to dodge out of the way of D.A.T.A.’s attack. “Now, use Overheat!” The Magmortar fires a massive blast of fire at Shane’s Porygon, dealing a hefty blow. The flames continue past and also strike Morgan’s Lotad, knocking it out of the fight. Morgan quickly recalls the fainted Pokemon and sends out her Solrock.

“Wilhelm, finish that Magmortar off with Night Shade,” Dmitri commands his Haunter. The Pokemon blasts the Magmortar with strange energy and finally takes it out of the fight. As it goes down, Shane’s Porygon begins to glow in a weird reaction to the data it had been exposed to and it morphs into a Porygon2.

“Your turn Houndoom!” McKay shouts as he recalls his Magmortar and releases his next Pokemon. “Use Fire Fang on that Haunter!”

“Intercept it with Sucker Punch!” Dmitri commands his Pokemon. The Haunter swings at the Houndoom as it charges at him with one of his floating hands but the swift canine Pokemon dodges out of the way and then leaps at him. The Houndoom’s fangs sink in and do some damage.

“Camille, use Ancient Power on that Houndoom!” Morgan commands her Solrock. The Pokemon lifts up many rocks with its psychic abilities and blasts them at the Houndoom, dealing a powerful blow.

“Chandelure, use Will-o-Wisp!” McKay instructs his Pokemon. The Chandelure sends off a small ghostly flame at Morgan’s Solrock, inflicting a burn upon it.

“D.A.T.A., use Conversion 2!” Shane commands his newly evolved Pokemon. The Porygon2 begins shifting a bit as it changes it’s typing.

“Houndoom, use Thunder Fang!” McKay commands his Pokemon, correctly guessing the type-shift. The Pokemon charges at D.A.T.A. and sinks its shocking fangs into the Porygon2, which is now water type. Miraculously, the Pokemon manages to weather the hit.

“Camille, use Confusion on that Chandelure!” Morgan commands her Solrock. The Pokemon fires a blast of psychic energy at the ghostly chandelier but it doesn’t seem to pay much mind.

“Chandelure, use Hex!” McKay commands his Pokemon in response. The ghostly Pokemon fires off a powerful blast of dark energy at the Solrock and takes it down instantly, knocking Morgan completely out of the battle.

“Ironhide, use Rock Slide again!” Arlon shouts to his Aron as he points at the lethal chandelier. Ironhide rushes the Pokemon with another surge of rocks and deals a pretty powerful hit.

“Houndoom, use Inferno!” McKay commands his other Pokemon. The Houndoom lets out a powerful blast of fire at Shane’s Porygon2, and takes it down. Shane quickly switches out to his Rotom.

“Wilhelm, Confuse Ray,” Dmitri commands his Haunter. The ghost Pokemon unleashes a blast of psychic energy and sends the Houndoom into a confused rage.

“#4, Horn Leech!” H commands his Trevenant. The massive Tree Pokemon charges across the battlefield at the Houndoom and slams it hard with his powerful limbs, taking the Pokemon down.

“It’s your time to shine, Torkoal!” McKay shouts as he releases his final Pokemon. The Torkoal emerges for its ball and spews out a thick smoke from its mouth.

“Ironhide, use Metal Claw on that Chandelure!” Arlon commands his Aron. The little metallic creature charges at the ghostly chandelier and swipes at it with his claws, whittling it down a bit more.

“Torkoal, uses Inferno against that Trevenant!” McKay commands his newly released Pokemon.

“Teleport!” H shouts to his Pokemon. The Trevenant quickly warps away just before a massive surge of flames engulfs his position.

“Wilhelm, use Night Shade!” “B.O.L.T., use Shock Wave!” Dmitri and Shane command their Pokemon. Both the ghostly Pokemon unleash their attacks on the Chandelure but it manages to stay up.

“Use, Shadow Ball!” McKay shouts in response. His Chandelure fires off a ball of Shadowy energy at Wilhelm and knocks the Haunter out of the fight.

“Alright, you’re up next Gigan,” Dmitri  says as he recalls his fainted Pokemon and releases his Scyther. “Use, Pursuit!” Gigan flies at the Chandelure at top speed and swipes at the Pokemon with her blades. The hit lands and the Chandelure is finally taken down!

“Use Inferno!” McKay commands his Torkoal, as he points at Ironhide. The fire tortoise unleashes a massive tide of flames at the Aron, almost taking the sturdy Pokemon out with one hit.

“That’s enough for you, mate,” Arlon says as he recalls the injured Pokemon. “You’re up now Hydra.” Arlon throws out another Pokeball and releases his Deino.

“B.O.L.T., use Confuse Ray!” Shane commands his Rotom. The electric ghost shoots a blast of psychic energy at the Torkoal and sends it into a state of confusion.

“Use Gyro Ball!” McKay commands his Pokemon. However, the Torkoal falls over in its confusion and fails to land a hit.

“Now, use Astonish!” Shane commands the Rotom. B.O.L.T. lands a hit and stuns the durable Torkoal.

“Hydra, use Dragonbreath!” Arlon commands his Deino. The Pokemon spews her powerful breath at the Torkoal and immobilizes it.

“#4, Phantom Force!” H commands his Trevenant. The Pokemon vanishes from sight as he prepares his attack.

“Torkoal, attack!” McKay shouts to his Pokemon. However, thanks to Hydra, the Torkoal remains immobilized. #4 then reappears right above the Torkoal and slams down on it with unstoppable force, finally taking it down.

“Well fought!” McKay declares as he recalls his fainted Pokemon. “A powerful fire burns within your hearts! This Star Badge is proof of that.” McKay reaches into his pocket and pulls out a handful of gym badges and presents them to the victorious challengers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy crap, this fight was a total slog fest! It was fun, but I had to do a lot of editing for the sake of the chapter. It was the first battle in which I wrote down every move used in the fight in my notes and, I have to say, there were a ton of them! Going back for this rewrite I ended up cutting out a lot of repetitive, boring, and unnecessary parts to keep it from going on too long. It was just too much to read.
> 
> That Torkoal was a major pain in the ass. It was just so tanky. But then we shut it down so hard. Between me paralyzing it and Shane's player confusing it and flinching it over and over, we managed to keep it from doing much of anything while H’s player built up his Trevenant’s combat stages to take it down in one fell swoop! However, I had to cut a lot of that stuff out so it wasn't just like three rounds of the same thing.
> 
> I also retconned that Shane’s Porygon evolved in this fight. He did find the upgrade item in the Genesect data, but he never actually told us when it evolved. It just sort of became a Porygon2 at some point. He kept calling it Porygon as well so that made things more confusing. We all agreed this seemed like a good place for it to have evolved. Mid-combat evolution is more awesome anyway!


	9. Volume 1, Chapter 7: Preparations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Dunsparce crew returns to civilized space in order to prepare for their expedition into uncharted space.

The _GCS Dunsparce_ floats along as it orbits the planet Silicron. After defeating Masou McKay, the crew enjoys some down time, glad to be out of the blistering heat of the volcanic world. As he makes his way toward the cockpit, Arlon hears strange sounds emanating from the med bay, which H has commandeered as a makeshift research lab.

“Hello?” he asks as he knocks on the door. No response. “H, you in there, mate?” Still no response. He tries the door console but it does not appear to be working. “That’s odd…” he mumbles to himself as he walks away.

Arlon relaxes in the pilot’s seat for a few hours, browsing through the ship’s nav charts, looking for planets that might have anything useful for the trip into unexplored space. Once he forms a rough idea of where he thinks the crew should travel, he calls the others to the cockpit to get their input. Dmitri and Morgan are the only ones who show up.

“Where are H and Shane?” Arlon asks.

“In the lab, I think,” Morgan tells him.

“There are strange sounds coming from in there,” Dmitri elaborates.

“I noticed,” Arlon tells him. “I couldn’t open the door either. But that was hours ago. What the hell are they doing in there?” Arlon brings up all the ships systems on the viewscreen but none of the sensors can get a read on what is happening in the lab.

“I guess we just have to wait for them to come out,” Morgan says.

“I suppose we will,” Arlon agrees. “Now on to business, where should we head next? We should probably start preparing for our little venture to the mystery coordinates.”

“Right,” Morgan tells him. “We probably could use some supplies.”

“We should also get some weapons on this ship,” Arlon adds. “We don’t know what we might find out there.”

“Weapons sound like a good idea,” Dmitri agrees.

“We’ll need a weapons system first,” Arlon continues. “Our best bet is to head to Federation space. We have a good shot at finding a good technician on one of the urban planets, and while we wait we can pick up supplies.” He quickly glances at the nav chart again. “Let’s see here…” He points to a planet. “How about Otho in Sector 3?”

“That works,” Morgan tells him.

“Alright, I’ll plot a course.”

* * *

The _Dunsparce_ drops out of warp space into Federation Sector 3. The ship is immediately hailed by one of three Federation destroyers that guard the gate. Arlon answers the call and a Federation officer appears on the viewscreen.

" _GSC Dunsparce,_  state your business," the officer instructs Arlon, who is currently the only one in the cockpit.

“We’re on our way to Otho for ship repairs,” Arlon tells him. "And to pick up some supplies.”

“Very well. Prepare to be boarded for inspection.”

Arlon docks with the destroyer and then activates the comms to inform the rest of the crew. “Heads up, we’re being boarded for inspection.”

Arlon then departs from the cockpit to meet up with the rest of the crew at the airlock. The officer Arlon spoke with and a squad of crewman step through onto the _Dunsparce_. “Show us to your cargo hold,” the officer instructs the crew.

Arlon, Morgan, and Dmitri lead the troops to the cargo hold, where they fan out and thoroughly search the empty crates, finding nothing of interest. They then proceed to the warp drive room to check where the ship has been.

"You seem to have gone quite a few places in the Outer Rim," the officer comments as he looks through the ship’s warp jump logs.

"Yeah we sort of travel all over," Arlon replies.

"For business or for pleasure?" the officer asks.

"Pleasure," Dmitri chimes in.

"I would say both." Arlon corrects him. "We've been traveling around challenging gyms and taking odd jobs here and there."

"What sort of jobs?"

"Well, uh, mostly transportation."

"Shipping or... _smuggling_?"

"Shipping," Arlon answers confidently, having bluffed to Federation officers many times before.

" _Really?_ " the officer asks incredulously. "Search the cargo hold again," he then orders his men. However they still don't discover anything, not even the now empty smuggling compartment.

The Federation troops continue to search the ship and find nothing else amiss until they arrive at the lab.

"This door is locked," says the officer.

"It is," Arlon replies.

"We're going to need you to open this door," the officer tells him, clearly fed up with his dodgy answers.

"I'm afraid we can't do that," Arlon explains. "We've been trying to open the door but nothing seems to work."

“Well, try harder”

"Look this is one of the reasons we needed to come all the way here," Arlon lies. "We need a skilled ship technician to take a look at this. The ones out in the Outer Rim just don't have the chops to handle some weird thing like this."

“Very well.” the officer tells him. “But make sure to get this fixed right away so we don’t have this problem again.”

“Of course.”

Determining that everything is in order, the officer clears the _Dunsparce_ to enter Federation space.

* * *

On the way to Otho, the _Dunsparce_ stops at a large space station to refuel. While there, the crew visits the station’s Wonder Trade center, since both Morgan and Dmitri have Pokemon they want to trade away. First Dmitri trades his Caterpie away and receives a Shellos, then Morgan trades away her Lotad and receives a Pikachu. Having used up his wonder trade for the day, Dmitri asks Arlon to wonder trade one of his Pokemon for him. Arlon trades away Dmitri's Lotad and receives a Gulpin. Morgan seems very satisfied with her trade results; the Pikachu seems to be pretty well trained and she thinks it will make a great addition to her team. Dmitri, however, seems less than ecstatic.

Before departing from the station, Morgan uses a Spacenet terminal to look up information on warp travel, thinking it might be useful to their trip into unexplored space. She finds some information on how it works and current research in the field as well as a great article about the history of warp travel:

> _The history of warp travel dates back to the early days of the Sinai Ascendancy. Sinai life ships from Earth landed on planets rich with ancient ruins that gave them insights into the mysteries of warp space._
> 
> _Through collaboration with the Geneva Confederacy, known for their scientific prowess, the Sinai developed long distance communication through warp space. With backing from the rest of the Federation, these powers later developed warp drives for ships, enabling them to travel much greater distances._
> 
> _With the full collaboration of all Federation powers, the first warp gate was created. These gates work with a ship's warp drive to slingshot them across the galaxy. The Federation pushed for seeding the galaxy with warp drives._
> 
> _Early conventions called for transmitting the steps for assembling the gate through warp space and having the local government oversee the construction. Once the Federation began to expand this became more difficult for Outer Rim sectors. With newer technology, the Federation has been creating new ships with much more powerful warp drives capable of much longer distance warp travel in order to go out into uncharted space and construct a new warp gate on site._

Morgan also discovers many "troll" articles explaining warp phenomena with crude and inaccurate science. This is not entirely unsurprising to her as the Spacenet is full of trolls these days, more so than in the distant past.

Arlon also accesses a Spacenet terminal and searches for information about the Red Suns and the attack on Gigan Station. All he can find is one article discussing the station's destruction and an ongoing investigation into a possible pirate attack. Arlon determines that, unsurprisingly, he isn't going to find any insights into the Red Suns' activities this way. He decides it's about time he visits some of his old contacts to see what he can find out.

* * *

The _Dunsparce_ drops out of warp space in the system containing the planet Otho, a jungle world with many large urban cities with lots of plantlife integrated nicely into the urban sprawl. Arlon flies the ship to its destination and brings it in atmosphere and sets down in a spaceport with the facilities to install a weapons system.

As H and Shane still seem to be locked away in the lab, Arlon, Morgan, and Dmitri depart from the _Dunsparce_ and approach the spaceport manager. “Hey mate, I don’t suppose we could get a weapons system installed on our ship?” Arlon asks him.

“Sure, that will be five-thousand credits,” the man replies. Arlon picks up on the faint hint of some sort of Genevan accent.

“That’s a very steep price,” Arlon tells him harshly. “You should consider giving us a better deal.”

“What are you trying to pull here?” the manager asks, a cross expression on his face.

“Look, mate,” Arlon says, realizing he needs to alter his approach. “We’re going on a dangerous mission into unexplored space. We need weapons but, we don’t have a lot of money to spare and the more we have left over for other supplies, the better. Surely as a fellow Genevan, you understand the importance of this… _scientific_ expedition.”

“Very well. If this mission is for the advancement of scientific knowledge, I suppose I can knock five-hundred credits off the price.”

“Thanks, mate,” Arlon tells him as he makes the transaction.

“It will take my men six hours to install the weapons system on your ship,” the manager explains. “Feel free to head off to visit some of the city’s sights. We’ll have you ship ready by the time you return.”

Arlon turns to his crewmates. “Why don’t we go find someplace to eat?” he asks them. “I’m sure you lot are as sick of space slop as I am.”

“That’s a good idea,” Morgan agrees.

They take a shuttle down to Otho's surface and begin wandering the walkways, browsing the bustling storefronts for a nice place to eat. Feeling homesick, Dmitri leads the crew into Romanov restaurant.

Arlon doesn’t seem too satisfied as they sit down and dig into their food. “Of all the places you could have picked, you had to pick a bloody Romanov joint. There’s nothing to Romanov cuisine other than potatoes and shitty vodka.”

“But this shitty vodka reminds me of home,” Dmitri replies.

“Feeling a little homesick, mate?” Arlon sighs. “At least this grub is better than what we have on the ship… Anyway, what’s the plan after this? We still have a few hours to kill."

“I say we go to one of the jungle areas and look for Pokemon,” Dmitri suggests.

“Works for me,” Arlon replies.

“Sure,” Morgan agrees.

After finishing their meal, the trio catch a ride to one of the natural jungle regions near the edge of the city. The head out into the thick  jungle to explore and look for Pokemon. It is not long before they come across a group of Pokemon. A Treecko climbs the side of a large tree toward a Nuzleaf hanging out on a low branch. An Abra sits sleeping up against the base of the tree. Dmitri immediately throws a Pokeball hard and fast, catching the Abra before anyone has a chance to react to the situation.

The sudden human presence alarms the remaining two Pokemon and they prepare to attack. The crew send out their own Pokemon in response. The Nuzleaf jumps down from its perch and swipes at Dmitri’s Scyther, catching her by surprise.

“Cerberus, Bite that Treecko,” Arlon commands his Houndour. The canine Pokemon rushes at the small green creatures, then bites it, sinking his teeth in and inflicting a nasty wound. In response the Treecko drains some energy out of its attacker to replenish its own.

“Flora, use Tackle!” Morgan commands her Beautifly. The bug Pokemon flies over to the Treecko and bashes her body into it, whittling it down a bit more. Morgan then pulls out a Pokeball and throws it. The ball pulls the Treecko in and falls still.

With the other two Pokemon caught, the three trainers focus in on the Nuzleaf. Dmitri casts out a blast of energy at the Pokemon and sends it into a state of confusion.

“Cerberus, use Bite again!” 

“Flora, use Poison Sting!”

“Gigan, False Swipe!” 

The trio command their Pokemon to attack simultaneously, overwhelming the Nuzleaf with their combined might. Dmitri then casts out another blast of energy and puts the Pokemon to sleep. Morgan then pulls out another Pokeball throws it, capturing yet another Pokemon.

* * *

As they make their way back into the city, the crew comes across a group of tourists. One is a tall, brown haired man with a bit of scruff on his face. The other man appears to be around the same age, except a bit shorter with blond hair and glasses. The third is a dark-haired woman of similar age. Arlon notes that they appear to be Pokemon trainers. The tourists seem to get the same idea about them and approach. "You all look like Pokemon trainers,” the brown haired man says.

"Indeed we are, mate," Arlon tells him.

"How about a battle?"

"Sure,” Arlon replies with a smirk, expecting an easy win.

"Let's make this interesting," the trainer says. "We each put in five-hundred credits, winner take all."

"Sounds good," Arlon agrees.

“Shall we begin then?” the man asks.

The six trainers step away from each other and reach for their Pokeballs. Arlon, Dmitri, and Morgan send out Aron, Shellos, and Pikachu respectively. The brown haired man sends out a Nidoking, the other man sends out a Cryogonal, and the woman sends out an Ivysaur.

“Cryogonal, use Ice Shard!” the blond haired man commands his Pokemon. It fires a chunk of ice at Morgan’s Pikachu, but the nimble little electric mouse dodges out of the way.

“Jean, use Slam on Ivysaur!” Morgan commands her Pikachu. The Pokemon charges at the Ivysaur but he is unable to land a hit.

“Nidoking, use Earth Power!” the brown haired man instructs his Pokemon. The Nidoking stomps down on the ground and kicks up a blast of rocks at Morgan’s Pikachu, knocking the Pokemon out instantly.

“Ivysaur, use Vine Whip!” the woman commands her Pokemon. The Ivysaur extends its two vines and strikes Dmitri’s Shellos with them, dealing a nasty blow.

“Use Water Pulse!” Dmitri commands his Shellos, pointing at the Nidoking. The Pokemon shoots a blast of water at the Nidoking and deals a solid blow.

“Ironhide, use Metal Claw!” Arlon commands his Aron. The small metal Pokemon charges at the Cryogonal and swipes at it with his claws. The attack lands and chinks off a few chunks of ice as it deals major damage to the ice Pokemon.

“Nidoking, use Thunderbolt!” the Pokemon’s trainer commands. The Nidoking fires off a blast of electricity from its horn which strikes Dmitri’s Shellos and knocks it out of the fight. Dmitri recalls his fainted Pokemon and sends out his Slugma.

“Ivysaur, use Sleep Powder!” the woman commands her Pokemon. “Put that Aron to sleep!” The Pokemon unleashes a fine dusting of powder at Arlon’s Pokemon and puts him to sleep.

“Yvonne, use Covet on that Cryogonal!” Morgan shouts as she releases her Eevee. The Pokemon emerges from her ball and runs at her icy opponent. She strikes the Pokemon, further whittling it down.

“Counter it with Ice Beam!” the Cryogonal’s trainer commands. The Pokemon fires a beam of colorful light at its attacker, dealing a significant blow to the Eevee.

“Now, use Quick Attack!” Morgan commands. Yvonne runs at the Cryogonal once again and throws herself at the icy Pokemon, knocking it out of the fight.

“Use Earth Power!” the Nidoking’s trainer commands. The Pokemon unleashes another blast of earth, this time taking out Dmitri’s Slugma before he gets the chance to attack. Dmitri recalls the fainted Pokemon and sends out his Houndour.

“Ivysaur, use Vine Whip!” the Pokemon’s trainer commands. The Ivysaur extends its vines toward Yvonne, but the Pokemon tangles its vine and Morgan’s Eevee is able to get out of the way in time. The woman just sighs at her Pokemon’s mistake.

“Yvonne, use Covet on that Nidoking!” Morgan instructs her Eevee. The Pokemon rushes the dangerous Pokemon and gets off a hit.

“Use Sludge Bomb!” the Nidoking’s trainer shouts in response. The Pokemon fires off a massive blob of sludge at Yvonne and knocks the Eevee out. Morgan recalls her fainted Pokemon and sends out her Solrock.

“Use Poison Powder!” The Ivysaur’s trainer commands, this time pointing at Dmitri’s Houndour. However, her Pokemon’s attack misses once again.

“Use Ember,” Dmitri commands his Pokemon in response. The Houndour spits out a lick of flame at the Ivysaur, taking a nasty bite out of the Pokemon.

Finally, Ironhide wakes from his slumber and rejoins the fight. “Ironhide, use Rock Slide!” Arlon commands the freshly awoken Aron. The Pokemon unleashes a tide of rocks at the Nidoking, pummeling it over and over, and taking it down.

“Camille, use Confusion!” Morgan commands her Solrock. It fires a blast of psychic energy at the Ivysaur.

“Dodge it!” the Pokemon’s trainer commands in response. The Ivysaur dives out of the way of the attack and then turns to face its opponent. “Now use Vine Whip!”

“Dodge it, Camille!” Morgan commands her Pokemon. The Solrock floats out of the way of the incoming vines, causing the Ivysaur to miss yet again.

“Now, take it down with Metal Claw!” Arlon commands his Aron. Ironhide charges at the Ivysaur and swipes at it with his claws, finally knocking it out of the fight.

"Well fought!" exclaims the Nidoking's trainer. “That was quite the battle!” The other two look a bit more dejected at the outcome, especially the Ivysaur's trainer.

"And you as well," Arlon replies. "That's quite a badass Nidoking you've got there, mate."

"Thank you."

“It reminds me of the one I used to have,” Arlon continues.

“Oh? What happened to it?”

“It’s… it’s a long story, mate, and we really need to get back to our ship.”

“Very well. Perhaps we shall meet again one day.”

The crew collects their winnings and then catch another shuttle back to their ship.

* * *

Once the crew is back aboard the newly outfitted _Dunsparce_ , Arlon activates the engines and prepares to take off.

"Don't we need lasers or rockets or something?" Dmitri asks.

"Don't worry about it," Arlon tells him. "I know a guy who can outfit this ship with weapons for a lot cheaper than anything we can find here."

"I don't even want to know," Morgan responds.

"Look, he's an old acquaintance I used to run jobs for. Not only can he supply us with weapons, but he might have some information about how the bloody hell we’re going to get to that uncharted sector. He's set up on a mining colony on the fifth moon of Manitou out in the Outer Rim."

“Alright,” Morgan agrees.

Arlon sets a course for the Sector 3 warp gate, then flies the ship out of the port. On the way, the ship makes a brief detour back to Wonder Trade station at Dmitri's insistence. While there, Dmitri wonder trades away Gulpin and gets a Solosis. Still not particularly happy with the result, Dmitri returns to the ship so that the crew can be on their way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This session was rather interesting. Both H's and Shane's players couldn't make it for various reasons, so it was just three of us. According to the GM this was a completely unplanned session for him. He sort of just let us pick some things we wanted to do as individual players beforehand and then had us decide as a group which ones to do. I came up with three contacts for Arlon and the worlds they were located on and figured we would maybe go to one or two of them. The one turned out to be the old acquaintance Arlon mentions at the end of this chapter.
> 
> We also got the first taste of the GM's random planet generation system. He rolls a d12 to determine its biome and a d4 to determine the level of civilization. That's where Otho came from. We had an interesting battle on Otho. That Nidoking was lethal, but I rolled a nat 20 on my accuracy check for rock slide and destroyed it. I actually based the Nidoking Arlon had in his origin story on it (and even made reference to it in this chapter). And of course Ivysaur had a bunch of bad rolls.
> 
> In rewriting this session, it got several pages longer than the original, so I ended up splitting it up into two chapters like I did for Session 4. So tune in next week for the conclusion of this session.


	10. Volume 1, Chapter 8: Meeting on Manitou

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Dunsparce crew meets with an old friend of Arlon's and receives a lead that might help them on their mission.

The _Dunsparce_ drops out of warp space in the Hadrian System in Outer Rim Sector 31. Arlon brings the ship into orbit around Manitou, a large blue gas giant orbited six moons and many asteroids. There are some mining facilities and colonies and such floating in Manitou's atmosphere as well as those scattered across its moons.

Arlon flies the ship towards the fifth moon, a terrestrial rock with no atmosphere to speak of. The moon is barren on the surface but deep down it is rich with ores. There is a rather large mining colony on the surface out of which many organizations, both legal and illegal, operate, including Arlon's old acquaintance Maxx Aler.

“So who is this Maxx guy, exactly?” Morgan asks as Arlon sets the ship down in one of the colony's hangars.

“He’s a merchant of scavenged ship parts,” Arlon tells her. “He mainly specializes in weapons but he also sells various ship upgrades. He’s the best at what he does out here.”

“And you’re sure we can trust him?”

“I ran a lot of jobs for him back in the day. He’s trustworthy.”

With H and Shane still locked away in the lab, Arlon, Morgan, and Dmitri disembark from the Dunsparce to meet with Maxx on their own. Upon arriving at Maxx's shop, they find him scanning through his datapad not really paying attention.

Arlon clears his throat, causing Maxx to look up.

"Arlon Jett? Is that you?" he asks.

"In the flesh," Arlon replies.

"I heard you were dead! What have you been up to my old friend?"

"Well, uh... I’ve been ' _dead_ ,'" Arlon says jokingly.

"Ah, yes," Maxx says with a laugh. "So what can I do for you today?"

"Well I've found myself with a ship without weapons. You're the best in the business so that's why I'm here."

"Ah. I see. What sort of ship is it?"

"Genevan, bucket class."

"Ah a Genevan Bucket; those don't normally come with weapons systems."

"Yeah. We had one installed since we're going on a dangerous mission into uncharted space."

"Oh, ask him about the warp stuff," Dmitri chimes in.

"Let's worry about the weapons first,” Arlon tells him.

“So what exactly are you looking for?” Maxx asks. “I’ve got your standard ion and photon lasers, and some very high quality beam weapons.”

“What about missiles?” Dmitri asks.

“I’ve got those too.”

“Missiles aren’t very cost-effective, mate,” Arlon warns Dmitri. “We’re tight on cash enough as it is.”

“What’ll it be then?” Maxx asks.

“We’ll take a photon laser and an ion laser,” Aron tells him.

"That’ll be three-thousand credits,” Maxx informs the crew.

"I don't suppose you could give a discount to an old friend?" Arlon asks.

"I heard your friend wanted to get some information," Maxx Responds. "Why don't we see what sort of information I can give you to sweeten the deal?"

"Very well, mate,” Arlon agrees. "We're going on a mission into an uncharted sector but we don't have a way to get there."

"I see. Well, I can’t offer you much in the way of getting to an uncharted sector, but… I did manage _acquire_ some weaponized warp tech from the Alliance… if you’re interested.”

“Sounds great, mate, but we’re tight on cash so I don’t see any warp weapons in our immediate future.”

“That’s a shame.”

"There's one other thing, though," Arlon continues. He pulls Maxx aside. "The Red Suns seem to be up to something and I need to find out what it is."

"Ah, yes, the Red Suns. They seem to be expanding. Ever since Garth took control.”

“I’ve noticed. We crossed paths with them a while back. He’s got all these pirates working for him now. The amount of influence he’s got right now… I don’t like it.”

"Wait, you knew who those pirates were and you didn't tell us?" Morgan cuts in, sounding quite annoyed with Arlon.

“Sorry, luv, I didn't think it was important at the time," Arlon tells her, not expecting to have been overheard.

"There's a lot of things you didn't think were important."

"Okay, I guess I probably should have told you guys sooner, but I had to make sure you were trustworthy first. They're called the Red Suns. I used to run with them back when they were an elite team of bounty hunters. Let's just say that the last op I ran with them went south… real south. I was set up; our leader and the target we were supposed to be grabbing were both murdered and I got framed for it. I had to fake my own death to survive.”

“I see.”

“Now the new leader, Devlin Garth, seems to be expanding, employing pirates, turning the Red Suns into something they’re not. He's up to something and I intend to find out what it is. Maxx, I assume you heard about the attack on Gigan Station?”

"Indeed," Maxx replies.

"Well they stole something, a data package of some kind."

"I may be aware of what they stole, something that pissed off a certain Alliance corporation; One dealing with exploration of uncharted space. I also might know the current whereabouts of the Red Suns.”

“Well, mate, care to share?”

“Not so fast. I hear the Romanov Union is gearing up for something. If you can bring me some tangible information on that I may be... persuaded to share this information with you."

"We might just have what you’re looking for; something we acquired while making a delivery. We need to go back to the ship and get it."

"Very well."

Arlon turns to leave, but Dmitri hangs back and approaches Maxx. “Do you know if there’s some sort of black market for selling Pokemon?” he asks.

“I may know something about a ring here on Manitou V,” Maxx tells him, “but you didn’t hear this from me.”

“Alright,” Dmitri agrees.

Maxx pulls up a map of the station on his datapad and shows it to Dmitri. “You can find them here,” he says pointing to a location on the map. “I should warn you though, their sellers often become their _targets_.”

“I’ll be careful.”

* * *

When the crew returns to the _Dunsparce_ , Dmitri unloads all  his good Pokemon and valuables as a precaution, just in case something happens when he meets with the black market Pokemon dealers. “I think you’re crazy for doing this,” Morgan tells him. “I want no part in this.”

“Then stay here,” Dmitri replies.

“I intend to,” Morgan tells him before he leaves the ship. She then turns her attention to Arlon. “I’m going to scrub all the Genesect data clean before we give it to your _friend_ ,” she tells him rather coldly, still annoyed with the fact that he withheld information. “I don’t want any part of me or my decryption techniques attached to this. It will take a while.”

“Alright then, I’ll just go keep an eye on Dmitri,” Arlon tells her. He steps off the ship, then stealthily trails behind Dmitri. He follows him to the location Maxx directed him to and spots a group of shady looking individuals.

“I’m looking to sell some Pokemon,” Dmitri announces as he approaches the group.

"What makes you think we want what you have?” the apparent leader asks. “Are they any good?"

"They're decent,” Dmitri tells him.

"He says they're decent boys," the leader says with a slight laugh. "Let's see if he's tellin’ the truth." He pulls out a Pokeball and sends out a Crawdaunt. In response, Dmitri sends out Shellos.

“Use Mud Bomb,” Dmitri commands the Pokemon. It spits a large clump of mud at the Crawdaunt, though it doesn’t seem to do very much.

“Crawdaunt, use Vice Grip,” the gang leader commands his Pokemon. It moves in on the Shellos and clamps one of its large claws around the Pokemon, delivering a pretty nasty blow.

“Use Mud Bomb again!” Dmitri commands his Shellos. The Pokemon backs up and spits another blast of mud at the Crawdaunt, this time much larger than the previous one. This time the Pokemon seems to take a significant hit.

“Now, Crabhammer!” The Crawdaunt moves in once again and smashes one of its claws down on the Shellos, knocking it out.

Dmitri sends out his Solosis to replace it. The gang leader just laughs. “Night Slash,” he commands. The Crawdaunt swipes at the Solosis and delivers a nasty blow, taking it down instantly. Dmitri immediately sends out his last Pokemon, the Numel he caught on Silicron.

“I thought you said they were decent,” the gang leader taunts. “Crawdaunt, use Crabhammer again.” The Pokemon moves in on the Numel and slams its claw down once more. However, the Numel managed to narrowly avoid getting hit.

“Use Magnitude,” Dmitri commands the Numel.  It unleashes a quake that delivers another significant blow to the Crawdaunt.

“Use Harden,” the leader commands in response. The Crawdaunt hunkers down and hardens up its armor.

“Use Lava Plume!” Dmitri commands the Numel. The Pokemon unleashes a blast of lava at the Crawdaunt and takes it down.

"That Numel is impressive, but the others not so much," says the leader, recalling his Crawdaunt. "I'll give you eight-hundred credits total for all three and I suggest you take it."

“Alright,” Dmitri agrees. He places the Pokeballs down on the ground, then takes his credits and leaves.

* * *

Morgan meets up with Arlon and Dmitri at Maxx’s shop and they head inside to finish their deal. "I believe we have some information you might be interested in," Morgan tells Maxx as they enter..

"Go on," Maxx tells her..

"We made a delivery to a Romanov research station and we stole some data on what they working on," Morgan explains. She transfers the data on Project Genesect from her Pokedex to his Datapad.

"Interesting,” Maxx says as he scrolls through the information. “Very interesting.”

“So, about your end of the bargain,” Arlon says, snapping Maxx back to the deal at hand.

“Yes, of course. The Red Suns are in an Outer Rim sector near Alliance space. On a desert planet called Banton. It's a rather civilized world but there's still a large underworld there. Perfect place for people like us."

"I know the planet," Arlon tells him. "In fact, I have an old friend on Banton I was planning on doing some business with."

"Isn’t that convenient,” Maxx says with a laugh. “But if you don’t want to go to Banton, you can also look into the Megastellar Association, the corporation the Red Suns pissed off when they hit Gigan Station. Their shareholders are all companies specializing in exploring uncharted space."

“Thanks for the tip, mate,” Arlon tells him.

“Not a problem. Now let’s get that ship of yours equipped.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This part of the session was interesting. After we spent the first half on the planet Otho, we met with one of the contacts I came up with for Arlon in order to advance the plot. I kind of derped and didn’t bring up Arlon’s past very sneakily and made him seem kind of like an idiot, but it was good to get that information out of the way and start moving Arlon’s character forward.
> 
> I actually developed Arlon’s backstory a lot more since the original chapter was written, so in going back to the rewrite I was able to describe Arlon’s past a lot better. That was one of the cool things about coming back to the old chapters for revisions later on.
> 
> A funny thing happened at the end of the session. The GM used his random planet generator to come up with the planet the Red Suns were on and it turned out to be a level 3 civilization desert planet in the Outer Rim near Alliance space, which was exactly like the planet Banton I came up with for one of the other contact locations. The GM just rolled with it and decided that the planets were one and the same.


	11. Volume 1, Chapter 9: Belly of the Beast

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Dunsparce crew finds themselves facing off with the Water Gym in the most unexpected place.

With the _Dunsparce_ outfitted with weapons, Arlon prepares to leave Manitou V. However, on his way to the cockpit, Dmitri blasts him with his psychic powers, sending him into a state of confusion. Morgan then grabs the dazed bounty hunter’s arm and pushes him against the wall. "Arlon Jett was it?" she asks coldly.

"What…?” Arlon asks, completely disoriented.

"This is not okay. I can almost deal with this warp _bullshit_ , but if we're going to die, it better not be because of something so _mundane_. "

"Huh...?"

"From now on," Morgan continues. "With anything that concerns _any_ of us... there will be no more lies, half-truths, deceptions, or obfuscations. Otherwise I will not hesitate to push you out the airlock."

"Woah, slow down there, luv," Arlon tells her, finally snapping back to his senses.

"Uh... What's going on? Shane asks, having recently emerged from the lab, unsure of what had happened over the past few days.

"He knew who those pirates were," Morgan explains angrily.

"Pirates?" Shane aks, still not that familiar with the past exploits of his new crewmates.

"You know, the pirates who blew up the station where we all met," Arlon tells him.

"Oh right, I remember you telling me about that."

"Well... I _may_ have neglected to mention that I used to run with them,” Arlon continues. “Back when they were a respectable team of bounty hunters…” He turns his attention to the group as a whole. “Look, I'm sorry I didn't tell you guys. I was waiting for the right opportunity. I needed to know if I could trust you guys.” Arlon looks back at Shane. “But what about you, mate? Where the bloody hell have you been? And what happened to H?"

“I think we should all just calm down,” Dmitri suggests. “Maybe we should try get to know each other a bit more, or something. So we don’t end up in another situation like this.”

“I have nothing to hide,” Morgan announces.

" _Really?_ ” Shane asks incredulously. “It seems like with that code you were trying to decipher... You were really into it and I don't think that could have been passion alone."

"What would you know about passion?" Morgan snaps back at him. "You're just a computer."

"How do you know about that?"

"You told us."

"Oh... Uh... right."

"I'm just a student from Geneva," Morgan continues. "There's nothing else to it."

"You still might be hiding something."

"I'm not the one who should be getting grilled here," Morgan says defensively. She turns her attention to Dmitri. "What about _you_? Who the hell are you anyway?"

"Well... um... my parents were Romanov researchers and I grew up on a Romanov research station,” Dmitri explains. “It was an old station that was a hotspot for paranormal Pokemon activity that the Romanovs were researching. Once I was old enough, I left the Romanov Union and I didn't return until we delivered that package to the Alexi System."

"What package?" Shane asks.

"Shortly after we acquired this ship we made a deal to deliver a package in exchange for a warp drive," Arlon explains. "It turned out to be a fossil of a Pokemon called Genesect and the Romanov are using it to clone an army."

"That… sounds bad,” Shane reacts.

“You don’t say, mate. But there isn’t really anything we can do about it now. Now, would you care to enlighten us in regard to where the hell you’ve been these past few days? What happened in the lab?”

"Science," Shane tells him.

"Now who's being evasive?" Morgan asks.

"H and I were experimenting with that warp goo on various objects. A key chain, a loaf of bread, and a potted plant."

"We had bread and weren't eating it?" Arlon asks.

"Yeah, I just kind of _found_ it."

"I take it it's no longer safe to eat…”

"I would assume so, not that it was before. It’s self-regenerating now, but I wouldn’t want to eat it.”

"So where's H anyway?"

"He's in the lab."

“Well, then let’s see what he has to say for himself.” 

The four make their way to the lab but there is no H to be found.

"Well, he _was_ here,” Shane tells his crewmates.

Morgan has a feeling Shane isn't telling them something, so she walks over to the closet and opens it up. An unconscious H falls out right on top of her.

"I can explain," Shane responds..

"I'm sure you can," Morgan replies, still fuming. "Would you care to begin?"

"You know how _pushy_ H can be. When he finally realized I am, in fact, an AI, he wanted to put me in a computer and trap me there to experiment. That's the very reason I ran away from Sinai."

"I never really liked him anyway,” Morgan tells him.

"You could have told us, mate," Arlon tells him.

“I suppose I should have,” Shane replies.

“Well, what’s done is done. Now, help me get him up on the table.”

Arlon and Shane grab H’s body on either side. Together, they lift him up and place him on the medical table.

“So, are we all good then?” Arlon asks his crewmates.

"As long as we can all understand each other from now on, I suppose things will be alright,” Morgan tells him. She then turns and storms out of the lab.

"Is there something wrong with her?" Shane asks.

" _Absolutely_ ," Arlon tells him. "But, damned if I know what it is, mate. Now, I think we best be heading to Banton now. We have a lead on getting to that uncharted sector."

* * *

The _Dunsparce_ drops out of warp space and approaches the Sector 31 warp gate. As the ship draws near it’s destination, the sensors start to pick up a strange signal. Arlon reaches for the comms. “I’m picking up a strange signal,” he announces. “You guys might want to get up here.” 

Once the crew gathers in the cockpit, they begin analyzing the signal. “It seems to be coming out of warp space,” Morgan observes.

“But what is it?” Arlon asks. “I don’t think it’s a ship.”

“I’m going to try cleaning up the signal,” Morgan tells him. “Let’s see… there.” The signal plays again, this time a lot clearer. “It seems to be some kind of Pokemon cry.”

Just then a giant pink space Wailord drops out of warp space and flies directly at the _Dunsparce_.

"What the fuck is that!?" Arlon shouts, seeing the massive Pokemon rapidly approaching through the viewport. He tries to turn the ship away but the Wailord pursues. “I can’t shake it!”

“Do something!” Dmitri shouts at him.

“I’m trying!” Arlon shouts back. “Strap yourselves in!” He pulls the ship up hard and pulls a hard Immelmann turn, turning the _Dunsparce_ to face the Wailord. He then fires the engines up at maximum power, propelling the ship full speed at the giant Pokemon.

“What are you doing!?” Morgan shouts at him.

“I’m gonna try dodging past it.”

“Are you crazy!?”

“I know what I’m doing!”

Arlon flies the ship straight for the Wailord, then attempts to roll to the side. Unfortunately, the giant Pokemon opens its mouth wide and swallows the ship whole. The mouth slams shut and rush of water pushes the ship deeper inside. The _Dunsparce_ eventually comes to a standstill deep within the belly of the beast.

* * *

After several minutes sitting around dazed and disoriented, the crew snaps back to reality, realizing the direness of the situation. “What… what just happened?” Shane asks.

“That thing _ate_ us,” Morgan replies.

“Yeah… sorry about that,” Arlon tells his crewmates. “I honestly thought that would work. Now let’s figure out how the bloody hell we’re gonna get out of here.”

“Uh, guys, there’s a man standing out there,” Shane says, sounding quite confused. He points out the viewport at a man standing quite a distance away, on the other side of what appears to be the Wailord’s stomach.

“What the _bloody hell_ …?” Arlon trails off, just as shocked as the others. “Let’s talk to him, I guess. Maybe he can get us out of here.”

The foursome disembarks from the _Dunsparce_ and step out onto the fleshy island the ship has landed on. The man approaches them as they get their bearings. He appears to be wearing a formal naval uniform, albeit one that is drenched in saliva and other Wailord juices. "Sorry about that,” he says. “Seems Wailord here has taken a liking to you."

"That's... a _nice_ way to put it..." Morgan tells him.

"Terribly sorry about all that, but since you're here... this _is_ the Water Gym."

"There's a water gym inside a Pokemon?" Shane asks.

"Yes."

“That’s… _odd_ ,” Arlon comments. “But the real question is, can we leave once we battle you?”

"Of course."

"Can we get out without battling?" Dmitri asks.

"Now where's the fun in that?" the man asks him.

"We might as well, mate,” Arlon tells his crewmate.

"I'm Captain Benz by the way,” the man informs the crew “What are your names?"

"Shane."

"Morgan."

"Dmitri."

"Arlon."

"Well met! To defeat this gym you must make it to the end."

Benz turns, then hops across the fleshy islands to what appears to be the exit. He turns around and watches as the a Dragalge arises from the stomach acid. In response to the Pokemon, the challengers release their own. Morgan releases her Pikachu, Dmitri his Scyther, and Arlon his Deino. Shane releases a Klefki, a Pokemon which came into being when he injected H’s warp goo into a keychain.

“Jean, jump across to that island!” Morgan commands her Pikachu. She points at a fleshy protrusion near the Dragalge. The electric mouse sprints to the shore and hops across. “Now, use Slam!” The Pikachu leaps at the Dragalge, throwing his weight against it and dealing some damage. Unfortunately, the Pikachu is pricked by one of the dragon’s poisonous barbs. The poisoned Pokemon lands back on the island, a little worse for wear.

“Gigan, use Wing Attack!” Dmitri commands his Scyther. The winged Pokemon flies at the Dragalge and swipes it with her wings.

“Hydra, use Dragonbreath!” Arlon commands his Deino. The Pokemon runs to the shore and lets out a powerful stream of her breath which succeeds in inflicting a partial paralysis upon the Dragalge.

 

In response to its attackers, the Dragalge unleashes a massive wave of sludge. The attack radiates outwards and strikes both Jean and Gigan, severely injuring both.

“Gigan, come back so I can use a potion,” Dmitri instructs his Pokemon.

“You too, Jean!” Morgan tells her Pikachu.

The Pokemon return to their trainers so that they can be healed.

“K.E.Y.S., use Metal Sound!” Shane commands his Klefki. The Pokemon moves in range and unleashes a high pitched metallic screech at the Dragalge which seems to soften up its scaly hide.

“Hydra, use Crunch!” Arlon commands his Deino. The small Pokemon jumps at the dragalge and sinks her teeth into the Pokemon. In response, the Dragalge floats off into the acid and fires off a draconic pulse of energy at Hydra, knocking her out. Arlon recalls his Pokemon and sends out his Aron.

“Gigan, use Wing Attack!” Dmitri commands his Scyther. Gigan once again flies at the Dragalge and swipes at the Pokemon with her wings.

“K.E.Y.S., use Fairy Wind!” Shane commands his Klefki. The Pokemon blasts a gust of wind at the Dragalge but it does not appear to be bothered. It ignores K.E.Y.S. and launches a large ball of sludge at Gigan, almost knocking the Scyther out.

“Ironhide, use Rock Slide!” Arlon commands his Aron. The Pokemon unleashes a blast of rocks at the Dragalge, bringing it close to the edge.

“Gigan, finish it off with Wing Attack!” Dmitri shouts. His Scyther makes another pass at the Dragalge and finally takes it down.

Benz nods approvingly in the distance and then proceeds through the exit into the next "room." Before following, the crew switches out their Pokemon. Arlon sticks with Ironhide, but the others decide to change things up. Shane, Morgan, and Dmitri send out Rotom, Treecko, and Abra respectively. As they step into the next area, a Seismitoad emerges from around the bend and surrounds itself with a veil of water.

“You’re not gonna do any good here, mate,” Arlon says as he recalls his Aron in response. “You’re up Jiraiya!” He sends out his Froakie while the others prepare to attack.

“You too, Houdini,” Dmitri says to his Abra. He recalls the Pokemon and sends out his Haunter.

“B.O.L.T., use Confuse Ray!” Shane commands his Pokemon. The Rotom unleashes a ray of psychic energy at the Seismitoad, sending it into a state of confusion.

“Frederic, use Absorb!” Morgan instructs her Treecko. The Pokemon drains energy out of the Seismitoad but it doesn’t seem particularly bothered.

“Jiraiya, use Pound!” Arlon commands his Froakie. The Pokemon jumps at the Seismitoad and slams into it, but, again, it doesn’t seem particularly bothered. It leaps forward and slams itself onto the ground, creating an Earthquake which completely knocks out Jiraiya.

“Frederic, use Absorb again!” Morgan commands her Pokemon. The Treecko drains more energy from the Seismitoad, recovering a bit from the hit he just took.

“Wilhelm, Night Shade!” Dmitri commands his Haunter. The ghostly Pokemon fires off a blast of dark energy, further whittling the Seismitoad down.

“B.O.L.T., use Astonish!” Shane commands his Rotom. The electrical ghost flies at the Seismitoad and rams into it. B.O.L.T. doesn’t seem to inflict any damage on its target, but it does manage to catch the Seismitoad by surprise and prevent it from attacking.

“You’re up next Crocuta!” Arlon shouts as he releases his Mightyena. “While its guard is down, use Crunch!” Crocuta runs at the Seismitoad, teeth barred. Unfortunately, the Seismitoad comes to its senses at the last minute and dodges out of the way.

“Frederic, use Absorb!” Morgan commands her Pokemon. The Treecko attempts to drain energy from the Seismitoad once more, but the Pokemon continues to evade.

“Wilhelm, Shadow Punch!” Dmitri commands his Pokemon. The Haunter flies at the Seismitoad and throws a punch with one of his free-floating hands, making contact with his foe.

“B.O.L.T., use Astonish again!” Shane shouts. His Rotom strikes the Seismitoad once more, and once more stuns it.

“Frederic, Absorb!” Morgan commands her Treecko. This time Frederic lands a hit, and drains a massive amount of energy from the Seismitoad.

“Wilhelm, Night Shade,” Dmitri commands his Haunter. The Pokemon unleashes another burst of dark energy, continuing the focused assault on the Seismitoad. The Pokemon attempts to fight back but ends up whacking itself in the face in confusion.

“We need more firepower!” Shane tells his crewmates. He recalls his Rotom and sends out his Porygon2.

“We just need to keep shutting it down like we’ve been doing,” Arlon tells him. “Crocuta, use Crunch again!” The Mightyena runs as the Seismitoad once more. This time she manages to sink her teeth into her opponent and do some damage.

“Frederic, keep Absorbing!” Morgan tells her Treecko. The Pokemon keeps up draining energy from the Seismitoad, slowly whittling it down.

“D.A.T.A., use Psybeam!” Shane commands his Porygon2. It fires a beam of psychic energy at the Seismitoad, but the shot goes wide and hits the fleshy wall.

Looking desperate at this point, the Seismitoad runs up to Crocuta and throws a punch at the Mightyena. The fist connects and the Seismitoad begins draining energy from her.

“Fight back!” Arlon shouts to his Pokemon. “Use Crunch again!” Crocuta sinks her teeth into her attacker and inflicts a nasty wound.

“D.A.T.A., use Psybeam!” Shane Commands his Porygon2. This time the Pokemon’s attack connects with the Seismitoad and brings it down.

“Phew,” Arlon sighs. “That was a tough one.” He then recalls his injured Mightyena and sends his Aron back out. Dmitri and Shane follow suit, switching to Klefki and Abra. As soon as Dmitri’s Abra emerges, it begins to glow. When the light dies down, a Kadabra stands in his place. “Today’s your lucky day, mate,” Arlon tells Dmitri. “Your friend here didn’t really do any fighting.” The two laugh as the crew moves on to the next area.

They step out into what seems to be the Wailord’s esophagus. Benz stands behind a Clawitzer, waiting. "You may fire when ready," Benz says to his Pokemon. He then turns and proceeds on to the next area.

“Houdini, Confusion!” Dmitri commands his Kadabra. The Pokemon fires a blast of psychic energy at the Clawitzer, dealing a bit of damage.

“K.E.Y.S., use Metal Sound!” Shane commands his Klefki. K.E.Y.S. lets out a high pitched metallic noise that softens up the Clawitzer’s shell.

“Frederic, use Absorb!” Morgan commands her Treecko. The little green Pokemon moves in and drains some energy from the Clawitzer. The Pokemon ignores Frederic, instead taking aim at Houdini. It fires off a pulse of darnkness, which instantly takes the Kadabra down. The Clawitzer clamps its claw down and makes an audible clicking sound, as if reloading.

“Ironhide, use Rock Slide!” Arlon commands his Aron. Ironhide runs up to the Clawitzer and unleashes a tide of stones, stunning the Pokemon and delivering a powerful blow.

“Wilhelm, you’re up!” Dmitri shouts as he releases his Haunter. “Use Night Shade!”

“K.E.Y.S., use Draining Kiss!” Shane commands his Klefki.

The two Pokemon unleash their attacks, further whittling the stunned Clawitzer down.

“Ironhide, use Take Down!” Arlon commands his Aron. Ironhide charges at the Clawitzer and throws all of his weight against it, knocking it against the side of the esophagus.

“Wilhelm, Confuse Ray,” Dmitri instructs his Haunter. The ghostly Pokemon fires off his attack at the Clawitzer, sending it into a state of confusion.

“Frederic, use Absorb!” Morgan commands her Treecko. The Pokemon drains energy from the Clawitzer, but not enough to bring it down. However, the influx of energy causes Frederic to glow. He grows in size as he evolves into a Grovyle. The Clawitzer pays him no mind and fires off a sphere of aura energy at Ironhide, and knocks the Aron out.

“K.E.Y.S., use Draining Kiss!” Shane commands his Klefki. The Pokemon flies up to the Clawitzer and drains away the last of its energy. The Clawitzer attempts to fire off a pulse of water as a last ditch effort but only ends up blasting the ceiling as it goes down, drenching the crew and their Pokemon.

Before proceeding, Morgan and Dmitri recall their Pokemon and send out Pikachu and Slugma respectively. Arlon also sends out his Mightyena, healing the Pokemon with a potion before the team heads into the next area. They emerge into what appears to be the back of Wailord's throat. Captain Benz stands on the far end of the chamber.

Suddenly, a Starmie flies out of nowhere, and gets the drop on the challengers, knocking out Arlon’s Mightyena with a pulse of water. “Damn it,” Arlon says as he recalls his fainted Pokemon. “Your turn, Cinder!” He releases his Cyndaquil and directs her to attack. “Use Flame Wheel!” The Pokemon rolls into a ball and throws herself at the Starmie as she covers herself over in flames.

“Jean, use Volt Tackle!” Morgan commands her Pikachu. The electric mouse charges full speed at the Starmie, electricity sparking out in all directions. He collides with his target and knocks it back against the wall, sparks shooting all along the Starmie’s body. Jean then passes out due to the poison of the Dragalge. Morgan immediately recalls her Pokemon and releases her Grovyle.

“K.E.Y.S., use Metal Sound!” Shane commands his Klefki. K.E.Y.S. lets out a high pitched blast of sound at the Starmie, softening it up for an attack.

“Obsidius, Smog,” Dmitri instructs his Slugma. The Pokemon sends a poisonous haze over to the Starmie in an attempt to poison it.

“Cinder, use Ember!” Arlon commands his Cyndaquil. She spits out a burst of flames, glowing white hot as she does. The glow covers over her body and she evolves into a Quilava as the flames strike the Starmie.

The Starmie remains immobilized thanks to Morgan’s Pikachu, leaving it wide open for an attack.

“K.E.Y.S., use Draining Kiss!”

“Frederic, use Absorb!”

Together the Klefki and the Grovyle drain away the last of the Starmie’s energy, leaving it knocked out on the ground.

"Hmm... Impressive," Benz tells the challengers. He then turns and walks away yet again, leaving the _Dunsparce_ crew to prepare for the next battle. Arlon, Morgan, and Dmitri recall their Pokemon and send out Houndour, Totodile, and Haunter. The crew then follows Benz to the next area, arriving in a large chamber filled with water. Benz stands on a small fleshy island in the center. A small boat sits in the water near the challengers.

“Who wants to get in this boat that is clearly not a trap with me?” Arlon asks cheekily as he steps toward the small watercraft.

“I’ll go,” Morgan tells him.

The two of them climb into the boat with their Pokemon and begin rowing toward the island. Ripples start forming along the water as they move along and a shadow appears beneath the surface. A massive Gyarados bursts out of the water, roaring loudly as it covers itself in a veil of water.

Dmitri directs his Haunter forward and it flies up into the Gyarados’s face. The two Pokemon roar at each other, then the Gyarados dives back into the water and swims toward Shane’s Klefki. The large Pokemon rises from the water and spits a massive surge of flames at the Klefki, dealing quite a bit of damage.

“Wilhelm, Night Shade!” Dmitri commands his Pokemon. The Haunter fires off a blast of dark energy at the Gyarados, landing the first hit on the Pokemon.

“K.E.Y.S., use Draining Kiss!” Shane commands his Klefki. The Pokemon moves in to attack, but the Gyarados dodges by diving down deep into the water.

The teams has barely a few minutes of respite before the Gyarado charges up from below, headed straight for the boat. Arlon dives off at the last second while Morgan throws up a protective barrier as the Gyarados smashes into the boat. Their Pokemon, however, are not as lucky. The Totodile is launched into the water while the Houndour takes the brunt of the attack. He begins glowing, evolving into a Houndoom as he attempts to resist the strike, but it is not enough and he passes out. The Totodile begins to glow as well, evolving into a Croconaw. Arlon and Morgan swim to the island, now soaked through with Wailord saliva. Arlon recalls his fainted Houndoom and sends out his Quilava, his last Pokemon.

“Wilhelm, use Curse!” Dmitri commands his Haunter. The Ghostly Pokemon inflicts a curse upon the Gyarados, counteracting the effects of its protective water veil.

“Hector, use Scratch!” Morgan commands her Croconaw. The Pokemon swims over to the Gyarados and scratches it with his claws.

“Cinder, use Ember!”

“K.E.Y.S., use Fairy Wind!”

The two Pokemon fire off their attacks from afar, whittling the Gyarados down. In response, the Pokemon dives again, emerging behind Hector. It roars loudly, then fires off a massive, powerful beam of energy. The beam strikes the Croconaw, taking it down instantly, passes harmlessly through Wilhelm, and collides with K.E.Y.S., dealing a massive amount of damage.

Morgan recalls her fainted Pokemon and sends out her Eevee. “Go, Yvonne, use Bite!” The small brown Pokemon leaps at the Gyarados and bites it, dealing a bit more damage.

“Wilhelm, Night Shade!”

“Cinder, use Ember!”

“K.E.Y.S., Fairy Wind!”

The Gyarados fights through the barrage of attacks as it recharges. It then dives down and swims for Shane’s Klefki. “Wilhelm, use Sucker Punch!” Dmitri commands his Haunter. The ghostly Pokemon rushes at the Gyarados as it rises out of the water, sights set on the Klefki. Fist raised, Wilhelm flies into the Gyarados's mouth and phases through the other side, knocking the Pokemon out. The fainted Gyarados continues flying and lands on top of K.E.Y.S., knocking the Klefki out as well.

"Hmmm,” Benz says. “Hmmm… Not bad. This was a most exciting challenge! As a token of your victory, I present to you the Nebula badge!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> H's player was absent once again but Shane's player returned!. Since he was the only one of the two who had been previously absent to show up, he got full reign over deciding what happened with Shane and H in the lab. He gave quite the good bullshit story on goo experiments that resulted in his Klefki, a regenerating loaf of bread, and a potted plant that grows in reverse.
> 
> The Water Gym was easily the most interesting of the ones in Volume 1. Having a gym battle inside a space Wailord was genius. It was funny how many Pokemon evolved in this battle. My Houndour and Cyndaquil evolved, as did Morgan’s Treecko and Totodile. We did catch them all at or over evolution level so we really only needed to use them once to have them evolve.


	12. Volume 1, Chapter 10: Big Booming Balls on Banton!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Following the lead from Maxx Aler, the Dunsparce crew travels to Banton to confront the Red Suns.

H awakens in the lab and finds the ship completely empty. He checks the ship’s scanners and realizes that the _Dunsparce_ is inside of a space Wailord. Still a bit extra delusional from being knocked out, he sets out to explore the inside of what he views as a truly magnificent and superior being.

After wandering through the inside of the Wailord, H somehow finds his way to the Pokemon’s brain. Standing below the brain, he realizes it is much higher than he can reach. “It’s time for Amazing Device A!” H declares. He brandishes his invention, simply string shot on a rope, and uses it to scale the walls of flesh and bone.

Once atop the brain, he decides to experiment. He tries shooting the brain with electricity, but it elicits no response from the Wailord. He suddenly falls down onto the brain and hits his head again. As he collides with the gray matter, H feels a connection form between himself and the Pokemon and it shows him the history of its people. The Wailord is lonely and subject to the whims of Humans, or so it seems at first. H comes to the realization that this Pokemon is using its surroundings, its human "master" to its own advantage.

“Such genius!” H shouts out. “In order to progress toward my destiny of becoming the most superior being, _I_ must learn to use my surroundings as well! I must use the inferior ones who travel with me to my advantage! I must help them, so that they can help me to achieve my goals!”

In his delusions, H believes that he is, in fact, speaking with the Wailord. He hears the majestic creature’s voice inside his head. “Henceforth, you shall be known as Ara Haoshyangha!”

Feeling changed, improved even, H returns to ship to await his companions’ arrival. They soon return, soaked in the Wailord's bodily fluids. "Hello my friends,” he greets them. “Welcome back."

Arlon, Morgan, Dmitri, and Shane give each other very confused looks. “What’s gotten into you, mate?” Arlon asks.

"I am a changed man," H continues.

"I see..." Arlon tells him. “Well, I think we would all very much like to get the hell out of here.”

Arlon walks off and heads to the cockpit. He flies the _Dunsparce_ out of the Wailord and then sets then takes the ship through the warp gate, a course set for Banton. Eager to get cleaned up, Arlon leaves the ship on autopilot, then heads off to get a shower.

* * *

As the _Dunsparce_ flies through warp space, Shane goes to the lab to confront H about their recent altercation. Stepping into the lab, Shane sees H once again working on something, oblivious to his presence. Shane clears his throat, causing H to look up.

“Yes, what is it?” the cyborg asks.

“We need to talk,” Shane tells him.

“About what?” H asks.

“You know exactly what. You tried to trap me, to experiment…  I hope you’ve learned my limits on what I will and will not allow."

"Of course," H replies. "You have your limits and I have mine." Before he can say anything more, he suddenly goes flying at the wall of the lab and his head becomes quite stuck to it.

Shane stares with a confused look on his face.

“I have been conducting experiments with magnetism,” H explains.

“I see,” Shane replies, still wary of H. “So have we come to an understanding?” he asks.

“Yes, yes,” H tells him. “I will not try to experiment on you. You are my rival after all. I must find a more befitting way of overcoming you.”

* * *

The _Dunsparce_ drops out of warp space in the Elyon System in Sector 27, the location of Banton. Arlon takes the ship down to the desert world and lands near the outskirts of one of the smaller settlements. “What are we doing here?” Dmitri asks. “Wouldn’t we be better off landing in a spaceport or something?”

“Normally, yes,” Arlon tells him. “But an old friend of mine is set up here. His name is Korben Danstar. He’s a weapons dealer. If we want to confront the Red Suns then arming up might be a good idea. Plus he knows the underworld of this planet like the back of his hand. He’ll know where they're set up.”

The crew disembarks from the _Dunsparce_ and begins the trek into town. As they walk along, they come across a group of wild Pokemon. A Cacnea sits in the sand enjoying the sun along with a Sandile half-buried in the sand and a Helioptile basking on a nearby rock. “Excellent, a Sandile,” Arlon says to no one in particular. He reaches for a Pokeball and sends out his Froakie. “Jiraiya, use Water Pulse!” The Froakie fires a large pulse of water at the Sandile, catching it off guard and delivering a powerful blow, dazing the Pokemon. The action catches the Helioptile’s attention and it charges itself up with electrical energy, as if to warn the attackers to stay away. The Cacnea, on the other hand, does not seem particularly bothered.

Dmitri releases his Scyther and directs it to attack the Sandile as well. “Gigan, use False Swipe!” he commands. The Scyther flies at her target and swipes at it with one of her sharp blades, further whittling the Sandile down. He then reaches for a Pokeball. He lobs it at the Sandile, and the Pokemon is pulled inside. The Pokeball shakes violently, then the Sandile breaks out.

Arlon then throws one of his own, but, unlike his comrade, he is successful. Dmitri looks at him with an annoyed expression on his face. “Sorry mate,” Arlon tells him. “This one’s mine.”

The others release their own Pokemon and join in the battle as well. “Flora, use Bug Bite!” Morgan commands her Beautifly. Flora flies at the Helioptile and makes her attack, further distressing the Pokemon. H pulls out a Pokeball and throws it at the Helioptile, but the Pokemon breaks out.

Further distressed by the capture attempt, the Helioptile unleashes a massive Parabolic Charge in a desperate attempt to heal itself. “#1, intercept it!” H commands his Rhyhorn. Like a lightning rod, #1 absorbs the attack, leaving the Helioptile panicked and confused.

While H focuses on attempting to capture the Helioptile, the others turn their attention to the Cacnea. “D.A.T.A., use Tackle!” Shane commands his Porygon2. It flies at its target and slams into it, catching it off guard as it had not expected be part of the battle.

“Gigan, False Swipe!”

“Flora, use Stun Spore!”

Before the Cacnea has a chance to react, Dmitri and Morgan immediately have their Pokemon follow up on D.A.T.A.’s attack, leaving the Cacnea hurt and immobilized. Shane then pulls out a Pokeball and throws it. The ball pulls the Cacnea inside, shakes a couple of times, then falls still.

“Jiraiya, use Water Pulse!” Arlon commands his Froakie, turning his attention to the Helioptile. The blast of water crashes into the Helioptile, leaving it quite weakened. H then pulls out a great ball and throws it, successfully capturing it.

* * *

The crew eventually makes their way into town, following Arlon as he leads them to Korben’s shop. Upon entering they see racks of guns everywhere. Small arms, rifles, heavy weapons, laser swords, grenades, anything they could possibly imagine.

“That… is a lot of weapons,” Shane comments.

“This is the right place alright,” Arlon says with a laugh. He looks around, but doesn’t see anyone there. He walks through the aisles, admiring the rows upon rows of weapons, eventually finding Korben in the back room checking inventory, back turned to the door.

"I see business is just as good as ever, mate,” Arlon says, announcing his presence.

"You certainly have an eye for it Arlon Jett," Korben replies as he turns around. He does not look at all surprised to see Arlon. “Good to see ya, pal,” he says, pulling Arlon into a bear hug. “How’ve ya been? Still alive and kicking I see.”

“Of course, mate,” Arlon says with a laugh, patting his old friend on the back. “It takes more than an explosion and a twelve story drop to kill me.”

“Indeed. Now what can I get for ya?

"I need weapons... and information,” Arlon tells him. “So business as usual."

Suddenly there is a loud crash in the main room. “Dmitri, be more careful,” Morgan’s voice flows into the room.

"Friends of yours?" Korben asks.

"My new crew," Arlon replies.

"That would make sense."

"Yeah… they’re not quite… what I’m used to, but they’re alright, if a bit inexperienced. But enough about that. I need to know where the Red Suns are operating here. I heard they were on Banton but couldn't get a specific location."

"And you think _I_ might know,” Korben says, a big, stupid grin on his face.

"Of course, mate. You know everything about the bloody underworld of this dustball."

"I heard something about them being here. In the capital surprisingly. They only recently set up shop here, so I can’t quite pinpoint a location just yet."

"Thanks, mate. Now let's get down to business. We need some weapons."

“Planning on blowing your old pals up?” Korben asks, chuckling a bit.

“You know it, mate.” Arlon laughs, realizing how much he missed his old friend’s sense of humor.

* * *

Once their business is concluded, the crew heads back to the _Dunsparce_ , but not before Dmitri catches a Sandile of his own. Upon returning, Arlon takes the ship up and flies it to the large capital city in the far more urban region of Banton on the opposite side of the planet.

Arlon finds a reasonably priced spaceport and sets the ship down. Between the five members of the crew, they easily split the fee. The crew then proceeds into the city. Being rather familiar with Banton, Arlon leads his crewmates to a bar favored by smugglers and other criminals to see if they can get any information on the whereabouts of the Red Suns.

“You lot look around,” Arlon tells his crewmates. “I’ll go talk to the bartender.

"What can I get you?" the Bartender asks as Arlon approaches the bar.

"Actually, mate,” Arlon tells him. “I'm looking for information.”

"Funny how more people seem to order information than drinks," the bartender quips.

"I'm looking for the Red Suns."

"Never heard of 'em."

" _Really?_ "

"Look pal, I just mix drinks."

“Fine, I’ll take a beer,” Arlon tells him. The man seems to be telling the truth so Arlon grabs his drink and moves on. “What the hell kind of bartender works in a place like this and doesn’t have any bloody information,” Arlon grumbles to himself.

Bored and not particularly sure why his crewmates decided to come to this place, H approaches a random guy. “How is your day going, my friend?” he asks.

"Uh... Who are you?" the man asks H apprehensively.

"I am the man who wishes to be enlightened by you."

"Uh…  Okay? What do you want from me?"

"Tell me about your day, your week, your lifestyle! All there is to know so that I may improve myself."

"I'm a farmer?"

“You’re not interesting at all,” H tells him before walking off to find someone else to talk to.

Meanwhile, Morgan looks around the bar looking for any sort of indication that someone here might be a connected to the Red Suns. Suddenly a weird feeling overcomes her and the place looks _different_. She looks at a guy and suddenly she sees him working somewhere, moving crates in a warehouse. The crates are branded with Red Suns’ logo. Her vision then zooms out and gives her an indication of where the particular warehouse is located in the city.

Morgan looks up and everything seems to be back to normal. She looks very confused about what just happened to her and a bit shaken up. Shane notices her distress and walks over to her. "Something wrong?" he asks her.

"I'm not sure,” Morgan tells him. “That's never happened before."

"What?" Shane asks her, unsure of what she means.

"I saw something," Morgan explains.

"Like here... or what?"

"No, not here. That's the really creepy part."

"What did you see?"

"I looked at that guy,” Morgan tells him, nodding at the man who had triggered her vision. “And he was somewhere else and I think he's a Red Sun."

"I'm gonna go get the rest of the group."

Shane flags down his crewmates and they all gather at an open table in the back corner. H puts his feet up on the table and everyone sees that he has replaced them with a cybernetic pair.

"What happened to your feet?" Morgan asks him.

"I have improved myself," H explains.

"I'm not even gonna ask," Shane chimes in.

"It's painful but I will learn through the pain," the cyborg tells the group.

"Okay, Good for you, mate," Arlon responds. "But we’ve got far more important things to worry about.” He turns his attention to Morgan. “What happened?”

“I had some sort of vision or something,” Morgan tells him. “I’m not really sure. It’s never happened before.”

“Psionic abilities, perhaps?” Arlon postulates. “I used to know someone like that. Well, she didn’t have visions or anything, but you get the idea. It’s not really important anyway. What did you see?”

“That man over there,” Morgan tells him, nodding at the man in her vision once again. “When I looked at him, I saw him working in a warehouse moving crates. They all had the same logo the ship that attacked Gigan Station had on it.”

“That’s got to be where they’re operating,” Arlon tells her. “Did you see where it’s located?”

“Yeah. I can probably take us there.”

“Right then. Let’s get moving.”

* * *

Despite never having been on the planet before, Morgan leads her crewmates to the warehouse she saw in her vision. Arlon moves up to the door but is unable to open it. “Locked,” he informs his companions. “Maybe I can get in through a window or something.” Arlon walks around to the side of the building and spots an open window a floor up. “I can get in through there,” he tells his crewmates. “I’ll drop down and open the door for you.”

Using a dumpster pushed up against the side of the building, Arlon manages to jump up onto the slanted roof and climb  up to the window. Surprisingly, H joins him with relative ease. “Not bad,” Arlon tells him as he looks in through the window. He sees several workers moving crates around, loading them onto a ship. He also spots a familiar face: the large, bald, bearded Romanov, Kiril Zhukov. _Damn it_ , Arlon thinks to himself. Kiril was one of his crewmates back when he was a part of the Red Suns. He was a man Arlon once called a friend. Going up against him means a tough fight.

“You still got that rope, mate?” Arlon asks H as he opens the window a bit further.

“Indeed I do,” He tells him.

“Great. I need you to lower me in.”

H pulls out the rope and lets it drop down into the warehouse. Arlon grabs hold and slides down into the building, barely making a sound as he hits the floor. He hides behind the crates and listens in.

"Hurry it up! The boss wants cargo delivered now!" Kiril’s heavily accented voice booms at the workers.

 _Delivered where?_ Arlon asks himself. _No time to think about that now. There will be plenty of time for questions later._

Arlon sneaks back to the door and opens it up for his crewmates waiting outside. Arlon remains unseen but, unfortunately, one of the workers sees it open, revealing Dmitri standing out in the open. Dmitri just waves at the confused worker. While he stares at Dmitri, dumbfounded, Arlon runs up to him and grabs him from behind. The man manages to get out an audible sound before Arlon chokes him out. Arlon quickly drags the body out of sight as Dmitri runs into the warehouse and hides with him.

"It came from over here!" another worker shouts. It sounds like he’s just around the corner on the other side of the crates. Arlon quickly climbs up on top of the stack of crates to remain unseen, but Dmitri is not fast enough. Arlon reaches down to help Dmitri up, but it’s too late; a pair of workers come running around the corner and see the two of them.

"Boss I found 'em!" one of them shouts.

Arlon runs along the crates and jumps down in front of them. "Don't try anything," he commands them forcefully, causing both to turn tail and run.

Meanwhile, another pair of workers run out the door to investigate. Morgan blasts one of them with psychic energy, knocking him to the ground. He quickly gets back up and follows his coworker away from the building as fast as possible. "I didn't get paid enough for this shit!" he screams as he runs.

“What’s going on here?” H asks, dropping in through the window, landing near Arlon.

"We've been spotted," Arlon explains..

"Wonderful!" H exclaims in excitement.

The sound of Kiril’s heavy footfalls echoes in the warehouse as he walks between the lines of crates.

"Greetings comrade!" Dmitri shouts to his fellow Romanov from atop the crates, giving him a wave before releasing his Scyther. Kiril waves back at Dmitri, then grabs a heavy weapon off his back and aims it at him.

“B.O.L.T., use Thunder Wave!” Shane shouts as he runs into the room with his Rotom. The Pokemon blasts a wave of electricity at Kiril, but the large Romanov man dodges out of the way.

“Kiril, we don’t have to do this!” Arlon shouts as he runs around the corner with his Quilava.

Kiril stares at Arlon with a look of pure surprise, thinking him to be dead, just like most of the Galaxy. His surprise at seeing his one-time ally quickly turns to anger. "Arlon Jett! You have balls coming here!" he shouts. He then reaches down to his belt and grabs two Pokeballs. He throws them up, releasing the pair of Electrodes Arlon is all too familiar with. "We shall see whose balls are bigger!"

"Compensating much?" Dmitri goads Kiril against his better judgement. Kiril responds by firing his cannon at Gigan. A giant blast of ice flies out from the weapon and collides with the Scyther, freezing her solid.

“Sleva, Prava, Rollout!” Kiril commands, pointing at Arlon. The two Electrodes roll at toward Arlon and his Quilava, rapidly picking up speed. Arlon leaps out of the way of Sleva, but Prava collides with his Pokemon, slamming her into a crate.

“Cinder, use Ember!” Arlon commands his Pokemon in response. The Quilava fires a lick of flames at the Electrode that hit her, searing its casing.

“B.O.L.T., use Confuse Ray!” Shane commands his Rotom, directing it toward the other Electrode. The ghost Pokemon unleashes a ray of dark energy, sending Sleva into a confused daze.

“Camille, use Ancient Power!” Morgan commands her Solrock. The psychic rock blasts a wave of rocks and energy at Prava, starting to whittle it down a bit.

Jumping into action, H kicks his legs up and fires his foot at the wall, then magnetizes it to the metal surface. Retracting the cable connecting his foot to the rest of his leg, H pulls himself to the wall. Using his momentum he flips himself up and fires his other foot at the ceiling. He pulls himself to the top of the very top of the room, then releases his his Rhyhorn in the air above Kiril. “#1, use Stomp!” H shouts to #1 as the Rhyhorn falls down toward Kiril.

#1 crashes down on Kiril, breaking several of the Romanov’s bones and knocking him unconscious. Unfortunately, this has the unintended consequence of causing Kiril’s other two Pokemon, a Weezing and a Gengar, to come out of their Pokeballs. In response, Arlon and Shane recall their Pokemon and send out Sandile and Porygon2.

Prava, the  Electrode Arlon’s Quilava burned, bounces off the wall at an increased speed and rolls right for his Sandile. It crashes right into the newly released Pokemon, packing a powerful punch. Sleva, the other Electrode, also bounces off the wall in a similar fashion. It covers itself over with ice as he rolls at #1. The Rhyhorn manages to dodge out of the way, causing Sleva to careen off into a pile of crates.

Prizrak, Kiril’s Gengar, looks at Shane’s Porygon2 and unleashes a blast of focused energy which takes the Pokemon down instantly. “Wilhelm, use Shadow Punch!” Dmitri commands his Haunter in response. The Pokemon throws a punch at his evolved form but the Gengar manages to throw his own punch in response. The the two ghostly Pokemon’s fists slam into one another, injuring both of them.

“Looks like it’s your turn again, B.O.L.T.,” Shane says as he recalls his fainted Porygon2 and sends his Rotom back out. The Pokemon doesn’t even get a moment to react to the situation before Otrava, Kiril’s Weezing, spits a giant blob of sludge at it, doing quite a bit of damage. Seeing how weakened his Rotom is, Shane recalls it and sends out his Klefki.

“Camille, use Confusion!” Morgan commands her Solrock, pointing at the Weezing as the intended target. The Pokemon fires off a blast of psychic energy of the Weezing, dealing a powerful hit. Feeling more confident in her newfound abilities, Morgan also blasts the Weezing with psychic energy, further whittling it down.

Kiril’s Electrodes roll back into the fray for another hit. Prava guns for Arlon’s Sandile again, delivering a more powerful hit than the last, however the Pokemon resists the attack. Sleva goes after #1 again, once more coating itself in ice. This time it lands the hit and does some serious damage to the Rhyhorn.

“Caiman, use Sand Tomb!” Arlon commands his Sandile in response. The reptilian Pokemon unleashes a blast of sand at Prava and takes the burned and weakened Electrode down.

“K.E.Y.S., use Fairy Wind!” Shane commands his Klefki. The Pokemon summons up a gust of wind to strike Prizrak, but the Gengar dodges out of the way by phasing through some crates.

“Camille, use Psywave!” Morgan commands her Solrock, also targeting Prizrak. The Pokemon fires off a wave of psychic energy but the Gengar quickly floats up and away from the attack.

Otrava flies at Shane as fast as he can, a bright light emanating from his pores as he approaches. Once in range, the Weezing explodes with massive force. Shane quickly teleports out of the blast, but K.E.Y.S. isn’t so lucky. The explosion knocks the Klefki out instantly, almost killing him. The Weezing lands on the ground unconscious, leaving a poisonous haze floating in the area of the explosion. Shane recalls his fainted Pokemon and sends out the Cacnea he caught earlier.

“I probably should have warned you guys, all his Pokemon explode!” Arlon shouts to his crewmates.

“All of them!?” Morgan shouts in response. Wishing to avoid another explosion, Morgan focuses on the Gengar and fires off another blast of Psychic energy. This time the attack lands, finally taking the ghostly Pokemon out of the picture.

Dmitri targets the last remaining Electrode, and shoots a hypnotic beam at the Pokemon, putting it to sleep. The Electrode keeps rolling in its sleep and slams into a wall.

“S.P.I.K.E., use Pin Missile!”

“Caiman, use Assurance!”

“#1, use Stomp!”

Shane, Arlon, and H, simultaneously command their Pokemon to strike the now vulnerable Electrode. All three unleash their attacks, dealing a massive amount of damage, but waking the Pokemon up in the process. The Electrode begins to glow, building up for an explosion. Thinking quickly, Dmitri pulls out the laser sword he purchased in Korben’s shop and runs at the Pokemon. He strikes the Electrode with the blade, knocking it out before it can explode.

Arlon breathes a sigh of relief. “That was a close one. But we don’t have much time. I suspect more Red Suns might show up. Let’s search the place and see if we can’t find anything useful.”

The crew splits up and searches through the warehouse. They come across some weapons and useful supplies which they decide to take with them. Arlon finds his way to a small administrative office where he sees a laptop sitting on the desk. Having a good idea of what Kiril’s password might be, Arlon tries a few variations and successfully gains access. He quickly searches through some files and finds lots of data on Gigan Station and the nearby Sector 25 warp gate. He realizes this must be the data the Red Suns stole from the station so he decides to take the laptop with him.

“I found something,” Arlon announces as he returns to the main room. “A laptop which has the information we need. We can analyze on the ship. Let’s get out of here.”

“What do we do about him?” Morgan asks, looking over at Kiril’s unconscious body.

“We’ll take him with us. Interrogate him.” Arlon walks over and picks up his onetime friend’s Pokeballs. He recalls the Romanov’s fainted Pokemon and then stashes the balls in his pocket for the moment. “H, we’ll need your Rhyhorn to lug him back to the ship.”

* * *

Back on the _Dunsparce_ , the crew ties Kiril up in the cargo hold and wait for him to wake up. When he shows signs of stirring, Arlon approaches, then slaps him in the face a couple times. “C’mon mate, wake up.”

"Wha..? Where am I?" Kiril asks as he begins to come to.

"That's not important right now, mate," Arlon tells him. “Now, tell me, what are you planning.”

"I have nothing to say to you," he tells Arlon angrily.

“You might wanna rethink that, mate,” Arlon responds. He places a foot on Kiril’s broken rips and applies pressure. The Romanov spits blood at him in retaliation.

“This isn’t working,” Morgan interrupts. “Get out of the way.”

“What are you doing?” Arlon asks.

“Just move,” Morgan tells him. Arlon steps out of the way, then Morgan blasts Kiril with psychic energy, sending the man into a state of confusion.

"Ready to start talking?" Arlon asks Kiril. The Romanov seems to be quite out of it.

"Where am I?" Kiril asks again. He Looks around, then locks eyes with Arlon. “Oh, hello Arlon,” he says. “I didn’t know the boss had you working this job too.”

Arlon looks at him with a confused expression on his face. He then comes to the realization that Kiril must think that he's still with the Red Suns because of whatever Morgan did. "Of course, mate,” he says. “The boss thought you could use a hand. What's the plan?"

"We're using the virus we created from the Gigan data to hack the warp gate."

"And where is this virus?"

"Only the boss knows."

"Where is the boss, anyway?"

"He is in Sector 25. We will be joining him there soon."

“Thanks mate,” Arlon tells him. “Now get some rest. You look tired.” He then turns to his crewmates. “Let’s get him patched up,” he says. “Then we’ll figure out what to do with him.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After two weeks of missing players, we finally had all our players back for this session. H's player came up with some crazy story of what his character was doing while we were fighting the gym. It provided a change in his character so that he would be (temporarily) less of a dick to everyone else's characters and give all of us some amusement.
> 
> With our party intact, we could focus on some plot! We headed to Banton and delved into more of my character's backstory. That meant fighting one of the Red Suns characters I came up with: Kiril Zhukov. By the time I rewrote this chapter, I had a much more detailed backstory for Arlon, so I added in more details that weren’t present back when we played this session. I think the references to his Origin Story made the scene flow a lot better.
> 
> H replaced his feet with cybernetic magnet feet with extendo-legs in this session, which lead to the fight with Kiril being way more interesting. His player rolled a nat 20 on Rhyhorn's stomp, so it messed Kiril up so bad.
> 
> This chapter really didn’t need that much work in terms of rewriting compared to some of the previous chapters. It mostly just needed some polish, which is what I gave it. I only ended up adding about three and a half pages on to the length. It did push the length to the point where I considered breaking it into two chapters, but there wasn’t a great place to split it up so I just left it as is.


	13. Volume 1, Chapter 11: The Sector 25 Incident

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With the intel they gathered from Kiril, the Dunsparce crew races after Devlin Garth and the Red Suns.

“This is bad,” Morgan says to her crewmates. Arlon, Dmitri, and Shane stand gathered around her, watching her analyze the data on Kiril’s laptop while H sees to the injured Romanov’s wounds. “They used the data they stole from Gigan Station to make a virus capable of hacking a warp gate,” she continues.

“We already knew that,” Arlon tells her. “What does it _do_?”

“I’m not sure; there isn’t a copy of the virus on here. Whatever it does, it can’t be good.”

“Let me have a look,” Dmitri tells her. “I know a bit about warp technology.”

“Go ahead.” Morgan steps aside and lets Dmitri sit down at the laptop.

Dmitri takes several minutes to scroll through the information and he starts to form an idea of what it actually does. “It seems like they want to alter the gate so that it can be activated without destination coordinates set,” he explains. “I think the virus is supposed to modify the targeting system to fire it at local coordinates.”

“Damn it, Garth,” Arlon curses. “Of course that bastard wants to turn it into a bloody weapon. What does it actually do?”

“I can’t say for sure,” Dmitri tells him. “Not without a copy of the actual virus. But… I think it creates some sort of tear in warp space that will mess up anything it’s fired at.”

“We have to stop them,” Morgan says urgently.

“No kidding, luv,” Arlon tells her. “But first we need to figure out what to do with our friend over there,” he continues, nodding toward Kiril, still lying unconscious on on the medical table.

“Let’s just dump him on some random uninhabited planet to fend for himself,” Dmitri suggests.

“Why not just dump him here?” Arlon asks.

“He might come after us,” Shane points out.

“Have you seen the shape he’s in, mate?”

“I would rather dump him on a planet like Dmitri said,” Morgan chimes in.

“Fine,” Arlon agrees. "But we’ll at least leave him these.” Arlon places Kiril’s Pokeballs on the table.

“I don’t think that’s such a good idea,” Morgan tells him.

“Oh, for fuck’s sake, we’re dropping him off on some random planet. The least we could do is leave him with his bloody Pokemon. They’re not going to do us any good anyway; his Pokemon are well trained and won’t listen to us after that fight.”

“We can Wonder Trade them,” Dmitri suggests.

“You have got to be kidding me,” Arlon responds. “If he finds out, he’ll fucking kill us.”

“Like he wasn’t going to already,” Shane cuts in. “At least this way we can get some Pokemon out of it.”

“Am I seriously alone on this one?” Arlon asks. “Fine. Do whatever you want. I want no part of this.” Arlon throws his hands up in disbelief, then walks out of the room.

* * *

Before leaving Banton, the crew travels to the Wonder Trade center in the capital. Arlon looks on scornfully while his crewmates trade away Kiril’s Pokemon, each trading one. Dmitri receives a Floette, Morgan receives a Pidgeot, Shane receives a Trapinch, and H receives a Swablu. They then make a few quick deals with each other; Shane trades the Trapinch to Dmitri for his Houndour and H sells Shane his Lotad.

The crew then makes one last stop to pick up some supplies. Morgan also purchases a dawn stone, which she then uses to evolve her Eevee into an Espeon. Arlon purchases a dusk stone for himself, believing he might catch a Pokemon that requires it to evolve. The crew then returns to the _Dunsparce_ and Arlon sets a course for Sector 25 with a brief detour to dump Kiril on a random planet.

The crew selects a barren wasteland of a planet with not much more than a few scattered mining stations. Arlon begrudgingly brings the ship down and remains in the cockpit while his crewmates dump Kiril on the ground nearby. With the deed done, Arlon takes off once more, getting back on course for Sector 25.

* * *

The _Dunsparce_ drops out of warp space in Sector 25 into the middle of heated crossfire between three Federation cruisers and a small fleet of pirate ships lead by the _UAS Corsair_. A small Sinai meditation sphere flies around the battle, observing.

“We’re coming in hot!” Arlon shouts over the comms. “Five enemy ships! Man the guns!”

Arlon swings the ship in towards the pirate ship holding near the gate and Dmitri opens fire upon it. Dmitri misses the first couple of shots as the vessel turns in order to return fire. Dmitri hits them dead on with the ion laser and disrupts their shields, he then lights them up with the proton laser and blows the ship up.

“One down!” Dmitri shouts.

“Great!” Arlon shouts back. “Get ready for the next one!”

Arlon pulls the ship up and around the back of one of the Federation cruisers, flying inverted over the top of it so that Dmitri can get an angle on the ship firing on it. He downs its shields with the ion laser, then the cruiser fires a salvo of heavy plasma cannons at it, decimating the undefended vessel. With its assailant destroyed, the cruiser begins to turn in order to assist the other two.

On the sensors, Morgan picks up a strange warp signature as the gate begins to glow red instead of its typical bluish-purple. “Something's happening to the gate!” Morgan announces to her crewmates.

“They must have already hit it with the virus!” Arlon shouts. “This could get ugly!”

One of the Federation cruisers unleashes a massive salvo on the _Corsair_ , but the shots seem to bend around the frigate. The space around the cruiser begins to glow and distort, bending and warping the ship in unnatural directions.

The meditation sphere hails the _Dunsparce_ and Arlon accepts the call. An elderly Sinai man appears on the viewscreen, his dark skin complimented by his flowing white beard and thick eyebrows. He appears to be some sort of monk. "This is a dangerous area,” he says with a thick Sinai accent. “The warp gate is behaving strangely. I advise you leave the area."

"What about you, mate?" Arlon asks the man.

"I felt a disturbance in the Warp. I came here to investigate."

"Well, we know exactly what’s going on here, mate,” Arlon informs him.

“Oh?”

"We've been pursuing these pirates for some time. They hacked the gate using some sort of virus to turn it into a weapon.”

"If you wish to help, undo what they have done. The Warp should not be used in this manner."

“Will do, mate,” Arlon tells him. He hangs up and then pulls the _Dunsparce_ around, back toward the gate. “Morgan, do you think you can hack in and shut it  down!?”

“I’ll try!” Morgan responds. Once in proximity, Morgan hack into the gate and commandeers the Red Suns’ virus. She releases the Federation cruiser from the spatial rend tearing it to pieces and redirects the assault toward the nearest pirate ship.

“Nice work!” Arlon yells to her. “Now let’s help that cruiser out!” He pulls a hard turn and flies full speed toward the cruiser taking the brunt of the attack from the pirates. With one cruiser still turning to assist and the other disabled, the _Dunsparce_ is the only ship able to help.

Once in range, Dmitri opens fire on the enemy ships. Arlon weaves between the ships as Dmitri lights them up, taking down two of the ships’ shields, allowing the cruiser to take them out with its heavy cannons. With the rest of the pirate fleet destroyed, the _Corsair_ turns away and jumps into warp space.

* * *

With the danger passed, the Federation ships move to dock with each other in order to evacuate the cruiser critically damaged from the warp gate, and to manage the raging fires from focused laser fire aboard the other. As Arlon looks on through the front viewport, one of the cruisers hails the _Dunsparce_. He accepts the call and a Federation officer appears on the viewscreen.

"Thanks for the assist,” the man says.

"No problem, mate," Arlon replies.

"What happened here?" Morgan asks.

"We were attacked by pirates."

“Obviously,” Arlon chimes in.

Morgan shoots him an annoyed glance, then turns back to the officer. "What did they want?" she asks.

"We don't know. To destroy the gate maybe. We won’t know until we’ve thoroughly investigated the scene. We have to close the gate down for a while so I’m afraid you’ll be stuck here in Sector 25 for a while.”

“Thanks for the heads up,” Arlon tells him before hanging up. He then turns to his crewmates. “If we’re going to do anything we’re going to have to do it now,” he tells them. 

“When I hacked into the gate to stop the virus, I managed to download a copy,” Morgan announces. “Maybe I can modify it to make the get take us to the uncharted sector. Right now is probably our best shot since the virus is still in the warp gate.”

“Do you think you can reprogram it in such a short period of time?”

“I can try,” Morgan tells him.

“If we work together, I think we can manage it,” Shane chimes in.

“Right then, get on-” Arlon is cut off by the sound of yet another ship hailing the Dunsparce. “Oh, bloody hell! What is it now?” He turns back to the console to see that the Sinai meditation sphere is once again hailing them. Arlon sighs and answers the call.

“Hello again,” the man says. “Nice work. I can feel the Warp calming.”

“Yeah, no problem, mate, but we’re kind of on a tight schedule here.”

"You mentioned a disturbance," Morgan says to the man. "What kind of disturbance?"

"What these pirates did here..." he says. "To this gate... It sent out fluctuations. Those trained in these matters are able to feel them. They are what led me here. But, what are you doing here? I have the feeling that you did not simply happen to be passing by."

"We've been tracking these pirates," Arlon explains.

"Hmm… I would like to know your names."

"What's it to you, mate?"

"You are interesting."

Before anyone in the cockpit can say anything, H suddenly comes flying into the room on his extendo-legs and magnetizes to the wall. "I am Ara Haoshyangha!” he shouts. “The being that will achieve perfection!"

“Now you really interest me,” the Sinai man says.

“Don’t mind him, mate,” Arlon responds. “He’s a bit… odd.”

“I see. And what about the rest of you?”

“My name is Morgan,” Morgan introduces herself.

“I’m Dmitri,” Dmitri follows suit.

“I’m Shane.

“And I’m Arlon.”

“I am Gilgamesh,” the Sinai man responds. “I am a gym leader and a student of the Warp."

"Maybe you can help us then,” Morgan tells him. “We're trying to get to a sector without a gate."

"Ah. Interesting,” Gilgamesh replies. “And you think this gate might help."

"We’re hoping we can repurpose the virus the pirates used to get us there,” Arlon explains.

"Messing with the warp in this manner may be dangerous to you. Where are you going? I am curious."

"Here," Morgan tells him. She reaches for the console and transmits the coordinates.

"What is so special about these coordinates?" Gilgamesh asks.

"It’s for a job,” Arlon tells him. “We’re being paid a hell of a lot of money to go there.”

"There was also a promise of knowledge," Dmitri chimes in.

"Ah. You seek knowledge,” Gilgamesh observes. “This reminds me of a tale... Have you ever considered the difference between Humans and Pokemon?"

"Humans evolved from Pokemon, I know,” Dmitri says confidently.

Gilgamesh gives him a confused glance. “That is an… _interesting_ … theory,” he says. "But, have you considered the difference?"

"Only Humans are capable of good and evil," Arlon says. “At least that’s what some old Sinai friends of mine used to say.”

"Ah, yes,” Gilgamesh says. “It is said that at the beginning of time, when Life began, it was simpler... and it was. In the beginning there were two trees, the Tree of Life and the Tree of Knowledge. It is said that most life ate from the Tree of Life and they became the first Pokemon. Some, however, ate from the Tree of knowledge and became Man. Those that did gained the knowledge of good and evil and the power to choose between them. This is the difference between Humans and Pokemon. Pokemon cannot feel hate... nor love, as much as we would like them to."

"But we can still love our Pokemon," Arlon interjects.

"And in the end that is all that matters," Gilgamesh replies. "Our love for our Pokemon help them to grow. Peace be with you." The Sinai man hangs up, allowing the crew of the _Dunsparce_ to return to their business.

Before anyone can do anything, a loud explosion echoes through the ship. “Can’t we get a bloody moment of peace on this ship?!” Arlon shouts out, exasperated.

"Damn it. I thought that would work,” H grumbles. “I'll deal with it.” He drops off the wall and hurries out of the cockpit. The others follow him to the cargo hold to see what the problem is. Upon entering, they see a giant white sticky mess coating the walls.

"Someone had a good time,” Dmitri says with a laugh.

Morgan laughs nervously at Dmitri’s joke for a brief moment. “What exactly were you doing in here?” she asks.

"The shot was right... but the pressure was too much," H says, appearing to ignore his crewmates. "Seriously, does anyone have a dive ball?” he asks. “Oh never mind I'll buy one."

“Right then, let’s get this mess cleared up,” Arlon says. “Then let’s work on getting to that uncharted sector.

* * *

After dealing with the mess in the cargo hold, the crew gathers back in the cockpit. As he settles back into the pilot’s seat, Arlon notices a message from Gilgamesh. He opens it to see a brief line of text accompanied by a data package.

_If you are looking to travel to a sector with no gate, it is important to have a way back. This may help you._

Arlon quickly reads the words, then opens the package. He peruses its contents while Morgan and Shane get to work on reprogramming the virus. It contains religious writings connected to warp space. They speak of a being or beings that reside within the Warp that seems to take travelers on their way and trap them or help those that are lost find their way. The rough translation states that it will interact only with "that which it finds interesting."

“Gilgamesh says we need a way back once we get there,” Arlon says once he finishes reading through the stuff from the Sinai monk. “He’s right. Once we get to this sector, we have no way back. He sent us a bunch of stuff about some warp being that he thinks can help us back.”

“So we’re going to rely on some crazy religious mumbo-jumbo to get us back?” Morgan asks.

“I know it sounds crazy, but I’ve heard stories,” Arlon tells her. “Smugglers who were lost in warp space being saved by some kind of Pokemon in warp space. It could work for us.”

“I guess it will have to,” Mogan responds. “The virus is all ready to go.”

"Well, if we’re really doing this, now’s the time,” Arlon says.

"Wait!" H protests, "We need a dive ball first!"

"There's no time, mate!” Arlon shouts back at him. “The Federation is already locking this system down. If we leave now, we may not get another chance."

“Fine,” H agrees. “Just let me download a schematic before we go.”

* * *

The _FNS Scimitar_ sits in space, docked with the crippled _FNS Cutlass_. The crew of the   _Scimitar_ continues to scramble to evacuate the _Cutlass_ and assess the damage caused by the malfunctioning warp gate. The _FNS Rapier_ floats nearby. Having dealt with the fires and loss of atmosphere, the crew brings the cruiser in to dock with the Cutlass in order to assist with the evacuation.

Lieutenant Evan Matthews sits back in his seat on the bridge of the _Scimitar_ , observing his fellow officers go about their business at what seems like double speed. Tasked with monitoring the warp gate’s readings, today his job is all the more important due to the dangerous malfunction caused by the pirate attack.

Suddenly, a light begins to flash on Lieutenant Matthews’s console, drawing his attention back to his duties. The warp gate appears to be once again giving off some very strange readings, just like the moments before it folded the Cutlass over like it was made of cloth. However, this time it appears to be behaving differently.

“Commander, the gate is giving off some really strange readings again!” the lieutenant shouts to his commanding officer.

“Is it going to tear a hole in another one of our ships!?” the commander responds.

“The numbers are way off,” Matthews explains. “But not like last time. The gate seems to be firing up like normal but…”

“But what?”

“The power levels are off the chart.”

“Can you shut it down?”

“No, Sir. It’s been activated by that bucket that helped us out. They’re flying into it!”

The crew watches as the _Dunsparce_ flies into the glowing mass at the center of the warp gate shining off a vivid shade of green instead of the typical purplish-blue hue. The ship collides with the mass and a brilliant blast of light radiates out from the gate. When the light clears, the _Dunsparce_ is gone.

“Damn it! What happened!?” the commander shouts.

“They’re gone, Sir,” Matthews replies. “I don’t know where they’re headed.”

“Get Haverson on the line,” the commander instructs. “Tell the admiral to hurry it up. We need to investigate this situation now!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was another chapter that became too long for just one rewritten chapter, so this chapter only covers the first half of the session. Not to mention that the two chapters cover two very different parts of the session. There was a lot of missing dialogue in the original chapters that I put in to show the crew working out what the virus does and coming up with plans to deal with it instead of it just being a brief description of what happened. I think it turned out very nice, even though it increased the length.
> 
> This session gave us our first taste of space combat and finally got to put my pilot skills to the test! It was a fun change of pace and pretty interesting encounter. And then we met Gilgamesh for the first time. The dialogue between Gilgamesh and the crew was pretty well documented in the original chapter, so all I had to do was add some polish to make it flow a bit better.
> 
> In the original chapter, there was a brief line where an officer and the commander of one of the Federation cruiser had a brief conversation when we hacked the warp gate to get to the mystery coordinates. I expanded it a little bit here to be a bit of an end-of-chapter scene not focused on the players, which was something that happened occasionally in future chapters. I think it was a neat way to wrap up this chapter and set the stage for the next one.


	14. Profile 2: The Monk

Gilgamesh sat cross-legged on the floor in the center of his meditation sphere, watching the small Genevan bucket through the tiny viewport. The aging Sinai monk found the vessel’s crew to be quite interesting, despite having only conversed with them briefly. There was just something about them, something that drew him to them.

Perhaps it was the fact that they had risked their own lives to help the Federation when they had no obligation to do so. Perhaps it was the fact that they were in search of knowledge. Perhaps it was the fact they were planning to bravely fly off into the unknown. Gilgamesh could not say for sure, no, but the one thing he did know was that the Warp had brought him here for a reason, that it had brought them here.

The old monk knew that he had to help them. He had spent a great deal of his life studying the Warp, learning from it, and he had passed along a sliver of his knowledge onto them. Gilgamesh suspected that what he had learned of the Warp’s true nature would help them find their way back once their journey into the unknown was complete.

As he watched the ship fire up its engines and fly toward the warp gate, Gilgamesh began to reflect back on his own journey. As the brilliant flash of green light enveloped the space surrounding the gate, the monk shut his eyes and cleared his mind of the present. As the old man settled into his meditative state, his thoughts found their way back to where his travels began…

* * *

“The Warp is a curious enigma,” Gilgamesh said, gazing around at the circle of monks intently drinking in his words. “It is a realm that is separate from our own, and yet it is through the Warp that all things are connected.” As he concluded his thought, the monk took a moment to breathe and allow the others to interpret his words and discuss amongst themselves. As one of the older monks began speaking, Gilgamesh allowed his gaze to wander across the skyline of Mechorah.

Although the sun had shone on the rooftop gardens of the Grand Monastery for an hour now, it had yet to fully reach the city below. The ancient temple on the other side of the city cast a looming shadow, shielding everything between the two monuments from the dawn. His people had discovered those ruins about six centuries ago when they first landed on this world; it was from the temple that they uncovered the secrets of warp travel to connect the Galaxy.

Gilgamesh returned his attention to the garden. The circle was looking at him expectantly, waiting from him to weigh in on the discussion. The monk had more than grown used to it by now. Ever since he had returned from his pilgrimage, his fellow monks had flocked from all across Sinai space to hear him speak, to hear him share the secrets of the Warp that he had learned. Today’s conclave was no different; both the fresh young minds who had yet to go on their pilgrimages, and the wise elders whom had been at this since before his own time all held his opinion in high regard.

“Forgive me,” Gilgamesh said apologetically to the circle of his peers and students. “It seems I have allowed my thoughts to drift.”

“We were just discussing what lies at the heart of the Warp,” Azriel, one of the older monks, informed Gilgamesh. The old man motioned toward one of the monks-in-training. “This young one was inquiring about your experiences with it.”

“I see…” Gilgamesh said, turning to the young man. “What would you like to know?”

“Your scroll mentioned an entity that exists in the Warp,” the young monk said. “One that traps travelers and helps those that are lost find their way. I was hoping you might speak more about it.”

“Ah, yes…” Gilgamesh trailed off as he pondered, reflecting back on his pilgrimage. “The being that dwells within the Warp… It was a mind-opening experience, although I am afraid I cannot truly describe it.”

“What do you mean?” the young man asked.

“After months adrift within the Warp, as I felt death draw near, that is when it appeared before me. The creature was like a looming emptiness, yet at the same time not… It was as if the whole immensity of the Universe stood upon the head of a single pin. I cannot say for sure why it paid me any attention… I guess it was… interested in me?”

* * *

Gilgamesh stood at the edge of the garden, gazing out upon the buildings. The midday sun now shone down upon the spires of Mechorah’s capital city, whose metallic surfaces reflected its rays in various directions. The conclave had adjourned and the garden was now quiet save for the sound of the light breeze rustling through its bushes.

“Wise words at today’s conclave.” Gilgamesh turned his head to see Azriel approaching. The old monk stopped beside him and joined in gazing out toward to horizon. “The students certainly look up to you.”

“Thank you,” Gilgamesh accepted the praise. “I am happy to share my knowledge with their young minds.”

“Indeed, but we are all interested in your wisdom, Gilgamesh. Your teachings on the Warp continue to fascinate us all.”

“I am honored,” Gilgamesh told the old man, bowing his head in respect. Azriel was the most senior member of the Archival Council and was highly respected by his fellow monks in the Congregate; to receive such high praise from the man was, indeed, a true honor.

“The other members of the Council and I were discussing,” Azriel continued. “The groundbreaking revelations contained within your scroll have had no small impact. We are eager to see what else you may have to offer.”

Gilgamesh raised an eyebrow inquisitively as he turned his head to face Azriel. “What are you suggesting?” he asked the old man.

“The Council would like you to add another scroll to the Grand Archive,” Azriel answered. “The knowledge you returned with on your first pilgrimage was exceptional, surely a second shall produce an equally noteworthy scroll.”

“I am deeply honored that you ask this of me, but my place is here, with the students.”

“Please, reconsider,” Azriel replied. “I am sure the students will be eager to learn whatever secrets of the Universe your pilgrimage reveals.”

“Hmm.” Gilgamesh stroked his short, dark beard as he thought it over. As much as he loved to spend time with the students training in the Grand Monastery, teaching them what he knew, the monk realized that he had more yet to learn for himself, more knowledge to be gleaned that he could pass on. “Perhaps you are right,” Gilgamesh agreed.

“Most excellent,” Azriel said, placing a hand on the younger monk’s shoulder. “The Council greatly looks forward to your next scroll.”

* * *

The desert sun hung low on the horizon, its warm orange glow casting long shadows along the ground as it fell upon the ruins scattered across the sands. Despite the waning daylight, the sun was still blistering. Luckily, in the shade cast by the large rocky outcroppings surrounding Gilgamesh, it was quite cool. The monk was grateful for the shade, but that was not the reason he had chosen to land his meditation sphere at this particular location.

Here, between the eroded rock formations, once stood a great temple, for what purpose Gilgamesh was only beginning to glean. Amongst the ruins, the monk felt a strong, lingering aura, as had been the case with the other planets he had visited on his pilgrimage. For the past few years, Gilgamesh had been traveling across Sinai space and the surrounding sectors, even going as far as the very fringes of the Outer Rim, the edge of explored space. In that time, he had visited ruins on countless worlds, some of which were sites that had never been documented until now.

Gilgamesh breathed in, pondering his journey as he sat cross-legged at at the heart of the ruined temple. He had felt fluctuations in the Warp at the other locations he had visited, each one leading him to the next. These temples, all in varying degrees of ruin, seemed to be connected somehow.

The monk had determined that there had once stood another great civilization, one that the Sinai texts did not speak of. The notion wasn’t entirely unprecedented; Sinai religion had been built up through centuries of monks exploring the Galaxy on their pilgrimages after all. However, something about these temples was unsettling. This site in particular felt different than the others. While the other temples seemed to have decayed through millennia of abandonment, this one appeared to have been destroyed before it was reclaimed by nature.

Gilgamesh breathed out, then opened his eyes to gaze upon the desolate landscape, dotted with occasional remnants of civilization. It was not just centuries of erosion as a result of the hostile climate of this world that had caused this destruction. No, this temple and the surrounding city had been ravaged by _something else._

As the monk drew his conclusion, he was suddenly struck by a rush of images. The vision poured into Gilgamesh as his mind tapped into the temple’s residual psionic energies.

The temple stood whole, the large pyramidal structure towering above all else as a testament to the people’s devotion. Out from this world, a great empire flourished as it spread its faith across the stars in the name of its gods. The gods descended from the heavens, but the people were rewarded not with salvation, but destruction. The gods turned the people against one another, driving civilization into violence and chaos. Out from this world, a great empire collapsed as it spread war across the stars in the name of its gods. The gods ascended to the heavens, the people having wrought their own destruction.

Gilgamesh opened his eyes, overcome with horror as he tried to make sense of what he had seen. The monk gazed across the horizon, once more taking in the view of scattered ruins as he calmed his mind. He glanced down at the holoscroll sitting in the sand in front of him. The brilliant glow emanating from it began to fade, but instead of returning to its inert state, it dulled to a pale purple; with this final vision of destruction, it was now complete.

Scroll in hand, Gilgamesh rose to his feet with a sense of urgency. Things were not as they should have been. His pilgrimage now over, it was time to return to Mechorah. The monk hastened to his meditation sphere. The Congregate needed to be warned.

* * *

Deep within the heart of the Grand Monastery, Gilgamesh sat waiting. For days now the Archival Council had been sequestered away inside the Grand Archives, reviewing the holoscroll his second pilgrimage had produced. Gilgamesh had barely moved a muscle since he had submitted it to the Council; deep in meditation just outside the Archives, the monk subsisted upon nothing more than the energies of the Universe itself.

Few had mastered this advanced form of meditation, and Gilgamesh made it seem an art. A decade traveling the Warp on his first pilgrimage had honed the man’s mind and body. He had often spent weeks, even months without eating. The few days spent waiting for the Council to review his scroll were inconsequential by comparison.

Time itself was almost inconsequential to Gilgamesh in this state. The physical world seemed to have faded away, leaving him with just his thoughts. So focused was he that he did not hear the doors to the Grand Archives open, nor the apprentice archivist calling his name. It was not until the young woman placed a hand on Gilgamesh’s shoulder that he became aware of himself again.

“Forgive me,” the apprentice said, seeing Gilgamesh opening his eyes. “I do not mean to disturb you, but the Council is ready for you.”

“It is time then,” Gilgamesh stated. The young woman nodded and gave the monk a slight smile as she beckoned him to follow.

Gilgamesh stood up from his seat, and followed the younger monk through the doors into the Grand Archives. The two descended a small flight of stairs into the central atrium where many monks milled about; some sat in meditation, others wandered about collecting the unique components for their scrolls amongst the pieces laid out on the shelves as they were directed by their instincts. Gilgamesh cast his gaze upward, past the monks browsing the holoscroll archives on the upper floors that reached all the way to the top of the Grand Monastery, to the massive psionic crystal hanging high above the center of the atrium. The large pink object served as a central nexus for the library, channeling the psionic wisdom of the scrolls stored within the vaults for consolidation. It radiated an aura of knowledge, standing as a symbol of unity around a universal truth.

As they neared the far side of the atrium, Gilgamesh returned his eyes to what lay ahead of him. Reaching the end, the apprentice bowed and motioned for the monk toward the stairs before she departed. Slowly, Gilgamesh ascended up to the raised area where the Archival Council sat waiting in a circle around the small pedestal in the center upon which sat his holoscroll. Gilgamesh took his seat, facing the nine members of the Council gazing at him with stoic expressions. They were normally very serious when they assessed a scroll, but they seemed more so now than ever. Given the grim revelations contained within his scroll, Gilgamesh was not surprised.

Several moments passed in silence. Under the judgemental gaze of the Archival Council, Gilgamesh began to wonder if something was wrong. Finally, after what seemed an abnormally long time, someone spoke; it was Azriel. “The content of this scroll is deeply disturbing,” the ancient monk said. “Most troublesome, indeed…”

“Yes,” Gilgamesh agreed. “It is… That is exactly why I felt it important to return here as swiftly as I did. The people must be warned of-”

“ _No_ ,” Riva, the sole female member of the council, cut him off, her old voice cracking from her harsh tone. “This scroll proclaims heresy. It is _known_ from the Twenty Scrolls of the Bronze Moon that the ancients joined, _embraced_ , the Angels of God. Your vision must have been unclean. We cannot allow it into the Archives.”

“But this is _important_ ,” Gilgamesh protested. “Surely you must see the danger these revelations present. To ignore them would be _careless_.”

The members of the Council whispered amongst themselves. “These are dangerous words, Gilgamesh,” Azriel then warned. “Such… _teachings_... could bring ruin to the Congregate. It would undo centuries of order and tradition. We cannot allow hollow omens to poison our hearts again.”

Gilgamesh eyed the ring on his finger: a band of simple metal signifying his honored ranking in the order.  In the center was set a tiny crystal hewn from the same stone as the one above them. He turned it in his hand, weighing the decision before him.

He rose to his feet.

“Very well,” he said. He stepped forward and grabbed his holoscroll off the pedestal. “If you insist on shrouding the truth with doctrine, then I want no part of it.”

Gilgamesh turned his back to the Council, cast his ring at the stone floor, and walked away. He crossed the atrium and exited the Grand Archives, never to return again.

* * *

The lights within Gilgamesh’s meditation sphere flickered to life as the old monk stepped aboard. Like most of the technology built into the Sinai vessel, he was able to activate them with a mere thought. Gilgamesh strode across the sphere’s single room toward the healing machine and placed his Pokeballs inside it. Once they were secured in their slots, the old monk reached for the switch to turn it on. Not every piece of technology in the sphere could be controlled by thought, of course.

As Gilgamesh watched the machine do its work, a slight smirk appeared on his face, although it was hard to tell due to his long, flowing beard. It had been a long time since he had experienced a battle quite like that one. As an Outer Rim gym leader, the old monk was used to being stronger than the majority of his challengers. Today’s opponent had not been one of them. Today, Gilgamesh had been defeated for the first time in a long time and, although he had lost, he couldn’t help but feel satisfied.

The young man Gilgamesh had faced had displayed masterful command of his Pokemon, who had gone toe-to-toe with each of the monk’s own. Down to the last Pokemon, they each had battled and, even at the disadvantage of being left with a Nidoking at the end to face Gilgamesh’s Malamar, the trainer had emerged victorious. That Nidoking had been fierce and well-trained; Gilgamesh rarely saw such a fine Pokemon.

The machine beeped, pulling Gilgamesh out of his thoughts. The monk shut the machine off, then retrieved his Pokeballs, placing them gently back into the pockets of his robes. His Pokemon now healed, Gilgamesh sat himself down in the center of the sphere to meditate.

It had been many years since Gilgamesh had turned his back on the Congregate. In that time, the monk had traveled the stars far and wide, learning all he could from the Universe. Without the support of the Congregate, Gilgamesh had become a gym leader in order to sustain himself. The funding he received was more than enough to pay for food and basic supplies, so, despite no longer believing in the institution of the Congregate, he donated many of his credits there. While he did not agree with its doctrine, is was still the primary body in Sinai space responsible for providing charity for the poor.

Being a gym leader also offered Gilgamesh freedom to explore the Galaxy that he did not have as a teacher to the young Sinai monks; it was a freedom that he made good use of. When he wasn’t battling against challengers, Gilgamesh was searching for answers. Since leaving the Congregate, the monk had been trying to do what the Congregate would not: heed the warning of his vision and unlock the truth behind it.

Gilgamesh had seen and learned much. The Galaxy was teeming with life, but it was not some happy accident, nor divine providence. Worlds had been sown with the seeds of Life and Knowledge that had borne the fruits of Pokemon and Humankind for some other purpose. Gilgamesh had found references to a great Gardener of Eden whom had tended the garden worlds of the Galaxy, allowing life to flourish and spread to the stars, but a dark implication lurked behind that notion. If his visions of destruction suggested anything at all, it was that someone or something had set life on a course that would eventually lead to its extinction.

Gilgamesh knew he was still missing something. If only he could speak with this Gardener… He focused, and the meditation sphere began to float upward. The small vessel ascended into the sky. Gilgamesh needed to find the answers he lacked.

* * *

Gilgamesh opened his eyes. Reflecting upon his travels, the old monk had lost sense of time. The small bucket had long since departed. The damaged Federation cruisers had been evacuated, and a whole fleet had arrived to secure the area. It was apparent that he would not be leaving this sector any time soon, but Gilgamesh didn’t mind. It would give him time to think.

The old monk was closer now to finding the truth than ever. However, the closer he got, the more he began to doubt himself. Did he really want to learn the truth? Deep inside, Gilgamesh knew he had to find the answers. That was why he had traded for information on the Gardener, was it not? He had given the location of an ancient artifact of untold power, one that he had come across in his many travels, to an information broker of sorts. Gilgamesh knew not what the mysterious man wanted the artifact for, but the monk knew that if anyone could find the Gardener, it was Mr. Silver.

Gilgamesh looked back out at the warp gate once more. The crew of that small Genevan ship were searching for answers of their own. Seeing how they had bravely dove into the unknown in that search had inspired something in Gilgamesh. Perhaps, he wondered, he should follow their example.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> At long last, it is done! I began work on this piece shortly after Profile 1, which I posted back in late June! This was just a really difficult piece to write since it relied on a lot of plot details I wasn’t too clear on and covered so many aspects of the lore that had yet to be explored. I’m sure the GM got sick of me pestering him with messages asking questions. I also just had a lot of difficulty with how to write certain scenes and just motivating myself to work on it. Taking a break to focus on Blueshift certainly helped. When I came back to work on this piece I felt refreshed and ready to tackle it.
> 
> Gilgamesh is one of the most interesting characters in Spacemon, and also one of the oldest. Given that, most of his interesting bits are in the past, so I presented this as a frame narrative, one that takes places just after his first meeting with the crew, between Chapter 11 and Chapter 12 of Volume 1. After meeting them, he reflects back on his own journey and how that brought him to where he is at this current point in the timeline. So now we go way back to the past to get our first solid glimpse of Sinai culture.
> 
> The first couple of scenes, ignoring the opening of course, is way back, 25 years prior to Volume 1. The only human member of the party who had been born at that point was Arlon, and he was only 3 years old! Here we can see Gilgamesh, somewhere in his 40s, already a wise and respected monk amongst his peers. I also got to tease what waits in the next chapter of Volume 1!
> 
> So pilgrimages are a huge thing in Sinai religion, but the funny thing is it was a minor plot detail I came up with in the second origin story, which you won't read for a while if you’re following reading order, but since then the GM and I fleshed out the concept. As a rite of passage, a Sinai monk must go on a pilgrimage to create a holoscroll, which is another completely random concept that came up once as a minor detail in Volume 2. Monks travel to various locations and record their psionic visions, and this is how Sinai religion expands. Some monks who are greatly wise, such as Gilgamesh, even go on multiple pilgrimages. That’s all I can say for now, but we will learn much more about holoscrolls and pilgrimages in a future Profile!
> 
> Moving on to the next scene, I don’t want to say too much because spoilers, but I have to say, Gilgamesh’s vision is like my favorite paragraph I’ve ever written for Spacemon. It is so good in so many ways. So this scene and the next are set about four years after the previous one, at the end of Gilgamesh’s second pilgrimage. Here he finds a dark truth that the Congregate, basically the Sinai equivalent of the Vatican, rejects because it doesn’t fit nicely into their Bible. This sets Gilgamesh on the path we see him on in the rest of the series!
> 
> The last scene, excluding the present-day final scene, is set about 5 years before the start of the campaign, just to set up some important things Gilgamesh has been doing since leaving the Congregate, but I couldn’t resist throwing in a little nod to that random trainer we fought on Otho, who may or may not appear later on! It was a fun little thing.
> 
> In terms of writing style, I decided to try something a bit different than what I did for Hondo’s profile. That one was focused more internally, showing Hondo’s thoughts and excitement at the prospect of wealth, whereas this piece focused heavily on descriptions, like we’re on the outside looking in. I also was very particular when it came to word choice and sentence structure. There are certain moments, such as Gilgamesh’s vision, that are almost poetic in a sense. It was a fun experiment and I look forward to trying out different writing styles for future Profiles to find the ones that are best suited to each character.
> 
> I hope you enjoyed reading this Profile as much as I enjoyed completing it! I can’t say I enjoyed writing it because it was very draining, but I am so happy it’s done and that it turned out better than I could have possibly imagined. Super special thanks to the GM for helping me write this! There’s a few details he’s added in here that even I don’t understand yet.


	15. Volume 1, Chapter 12: Into the Unknown

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Dunsparce launches into the depths of warp space toward the coordinates provided by Mr. Silver.

The _Dunsparce_ flies through deep warp space, completely at the mercy of the Warp. As opposed to normal warp travel where it feels like gliding along a rail from Point A to Point B, this time it feels like the _Dunsparce_ is being flung out of control. A sense of uneasiness and panic permeates throughout the ship.

Arlon stares paralyzed out the front viewport in the cockpit, out into the spiraling void of deep warp space. The void stares back, deep into his very soul. He feels as if it will swallow him up. Dmitri and H both succumb to the terror as well. While not as dumbstruck as Arlon, each of them huddles in a corner, clutching tightly to a Pokemon for comfort. Morgan and Shane remain level headed, but both of them still feel plagued by uneasiness.

“We have to do something,” Morgan says to Shane as she eyes Arlon staring blankly out the viewport. She walks over to the man and tries to get his attention. Morgan waves her her hand in front of his face, but she is unable to snap him out of it. “Shane, help me move him.”

Shane walks over, and the two of them manage to get Arlon up out of his seat. “Where are we taking him?” Shane asks.

“Let’s try getting him to his bed,” Morgan suggests.

“Alright," Shane agrees.

The pair leads Arlon to his room and get him to lie down in his bed. Morgan then walks over to the viewport and closes the shutter so Arlon cannot see the spiraling warp energy outside. She and Shane then exit the room and lock it from the outside so he can’t get out.

“Just so he stays out of danger,” Morgan tells Shane.

* * *

The hours slowly tick by as the _Dunsparce_ tumbles uncontrollably through the Warp. H passes out from the stress while Dmitri attempts to drink himself into a stupor to calm himself. Even Morgan begins to feel paranoia setting in. Shane hides away inside the computer to keep himself sane, but he continues to monitor the others to make sure they’re alright. As time drags along, the crew begins to wonder if they will make it out alive.

Suddenly the ship drops out of warp space hard, tossing everyone about. Morgan is launched out of her seat and flies across the mess area of the ship. She crashes hard into a bulkhead, cutting open the skin on her forehead. Shane materializes himself out of the computer and rushes to her aid.

“Are you alright?” he asks.

“I think so,” Morgan tells him. “It’s just a scratch.”

"Guys?! What the bloody hell happened?!" Arlon’s voice sounds over the comms.

“I think we hit something,” Shane says.

“Well that’s just brilliant,” Arlon grumbles. “Mind letting me out, mate?”

Shane heads over to the crew quarters and releases Arlon from his room. “Are you alright?” he asks. “You were pretty out of it.”

“I’ll be fine, mate. The real question is, is the ship alright?” The two head back to the cockpit to evaluate the situation. “Alright, let’s see here… engines are alright… shields are good… life support… also good. Well that’s a relief. The only things down are the sensors and the nav system.”

“That’s good,” Shane tells him.

“I suppose,” Arlon replies. “But we have no bloody idea where we are, or if we made it where we wanted to go.”

“I think we hit a rock or a moon or something,” Shane deduces, looking out the viewport at the gray rocks and dust outside.

“Definitely a moon, I’d say,” Arlon agrees. “Let’s go check it out.”

“You want to go out there?” Shane asks.

“We have a space suit,” Arlon points out.

“A spacesuit.”

“I don’t imagine you need one do you, mate?”

“I don’t really know.”

“Well there’s only one way to find out.”

“And I can modify that heat suit of yours to protect you from the vacuum,” H chimes in.

“Right then, that means three of us can go out there,” Arlon says to his crewmates.

“I’m taking the space suit,” Dmitri volunteers.

“I guess that leaves me with the heat suit then,” Arlon says.

* * *

While waiting for H to modify the heat suit, the crew begins to gear up. After a long wait, H returns with the suit, which is now almost completely coated in string shot.

“What the hell did you do?” Arlon asks.

“I have modified the suit for space,” H tells him.

“All you’ve done is cover it in bloody string shot.”

“It is vacuum sealed and insulated. It will work.”

“If you say so…” Arlon grumbles. He climbs into the suit and seals it up. “Shall we?” he asks Shane and Dmitri.

The trio heads to the airlock and prepare to disembark. Shane feels quite uneasy as the interior airlock slides shut. He cringes as the exterior airlock opens, but finds that he isn’t affected like a human. He feels strange; cold but otherwise unaffected.

“How’s it feel, mate?” Arlon asks.

“Weird,” Shane tells him. “Really weird.”

“At least you seem fine. Now let’s hurry up. _You_ may be fine, but I don’t know how long my suit will last out here.”

Still feeling a bit uneasy, Shane follows his crewmates onto the surface of the moon they find themselves on. The trio wanders around for a while and comes across a few moon stones, which they collect for future use.

“Guys, I got the sensors back online,” Morgan voice comes in over the comms in the suits. “I’m picking up some life signs near your location, a bit further on in the direction you’ve been headed.”

“We’ll check it out,” Arlon responds.

The exploration party continues onward, up and out of what appears giant crater that the Dunsparce crash landed in. As the crest the top of the crater, a planet rises up above the horizon, brown and barren. They stare in awe at the sight before them.

"Guys... I think this the origin planet…” Shane tells his crewmates. “I think this is Earth…”

“I don’t fucking believe it,” Arlon says, awestruck. After a few more moments, he snaps back to the present situation. “C’mon, let’s get back to the ship. We need to get over there.”

As the trio turns to leave, a group of three Clefairies rise of the top of a nearby hill, bouncing along toward them. “We should catch them,” Dmitri suggests. The three explorers release Pokemon capable of surviving in space and prepare to engage the wild Pokemon.

“Ironhide, use Rock Slide!” Arlon commands his Aron. The small metal Pokemon kicks up wall of moon rocks and launches them at two of the Clefairies, dealing a pretty hefty blow. Both Dmitri and Shane throw Pokeballs at the injured Pokemon, but both break out.

“Maine, use Take Down!”

“K.E.Y.S., use Astonish!”

Dmitri’s Beldum and Shane’s Klefki respond to the commands and charge at the two injured Clefairies, whittling them down even further. Both Pokemon’s trainers then throw Pokeballs at the Pokemon again. The time, Dmitri is successful, but Shane is not. Annoyed, Shane recalls his Klefki and releases his Rotom.

The Clefairies charge at their assailants with attacks of their own in response, sending both Dmitri’s Beldum and Arlon’s Aron into a state of confusion.

“Ironhide, use Rock Slide again!” Arlon command his Pokemon. The Aron throws another surge of rocks at the two remaining Clefairies, but this time his attack misses. Dmitri immediately follows up by blasting one of the wild Pokemon with psychic energy, sending it into a state of confusion as well.

“This time it better work,” Shane says as he throws another Pokeball at the confused Clefairy. The ball pulls the Pokemon in as it collides with it, then falls still on the ground. “Now, just one more left. B.O.L.T., use Thundershock!” Shane’s Rotom fires a small blast of electricity at the sole remaining Clefairy. The Clefairy responds by charging at Maine and slapping the Beldum around a few times.

“Ironhide, use Take Down!” Arlon commands his Pokemon. The Aron charges at the Clefairy and slams into it, delivering a pretty nasty blow. “Now for the capture.” He pulls out a Pokeball and throws it at the Clefairy. The ball pulls the Pokemon inside and begins to shake. It eventually falls still and Arlon walks over to claim his prize.

* * *

“I can’t believe we actually found Earth,” Arlon says to his crewmates. Having returned the _Dunsparce_ , the crew stands around the table in the mess area planning their next move. “That Mr. Silver guy… he had to have known this was here. Why else would he have sent us to these coordinates?”

“But if he already knew it was here, why send us at all?” Morgan asks.

“That is a damn good question,” Arlon replies. “There must be a reason he sent us here. Something he’s looking for. I think we should head down to the surface and see what we can find. Get on the scanners while I take the ship up.”

The crew returns to the cockpit and Arlon eases back into the pilot’s seat. While he lifts the ship off of the Moon, Morgan and Dmitri man the ship’s various sensors and begin scanning Earth.

“I’m not finding anything,” Morgan says.

“I’m not either,” Dmitri says. “The whole planet is just dead.”

“Wait… I’m picking up _something_ ,” Morgan suddenly announces. “Some kind of faint life sign. I don’t think the scanners would have picked it up if the whole planet wasn’t so dead.”

“Let’s have a look,” Arlon says, pulling the scan up on the main viewscreen. A faint blip flashes in the southern hemisphere of the planet, from what was once South America. Arlon plugs the location into the computer and takes the ship down into the atmosphere.

The _Dunsparce_ descends into a completely fossilized jungle as it draws nearer to the source of the life signs. When the ship gets as close as it can, Arlon sets it down.

“Atmosphere looks good,” Morgan announces. “We won’t be needing space suits.”

“Good,” Arlon tells her.

The crew steps off the ship into a mild drizzle of acid rain that stings ever so slightly. Pursuing the life signs, they eventually arrive at the entrance to a cave leading down into the ground.

“It’s bloody dark in here,” Arlon observes as they proceed into the cave.

“Allow me,” H tells him. He raises his hands and creates two glowing balls of electricity to light the way. Suddenly a swarm of Zubats descends from the ceiling, falling all around the crew. As hard, rocky shapes land on their heads, the crew realizes that all the Zubats are dead and fossilized.

“Bloody hell,” Arlon grumbles as he picks one of the fossils up. “Didn’t see that one coming…”

Each member crew collects a fossil of their own, then they proceed deeper into the cave. As they move deeper down, a faint, purplish light begins radiating through the tunnels. The crew eventually exits into a big open chamber containing a pool of shimmering water. A giant rock-crystal tree of some kind stands in the center, towering above everything.

“What… is _that_ ,” Morgan asks.

“Hell if I know,” Arlon tells her. "But this has got to be what Mr. Silver was looking for.”

Dmitri steps forward into the pool and reaches down to pick up a fossil. He glances at it, examining the spiraling helix pattern. He stuffs it into his bag, then approaches the tree. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you, mate,” Arlon warns as Dmitri reaches out for it. Dmitri ignores the warning and brushes his fingers along the smooth crystal surface. A strange feeling moves through his fingers and up his arm, like some sort of permeating warmness.

“This water is amazingly pure,” H comments, dipping one of his hands into the pool. “I must collect samples.” He pulls several vials out from his pockets and begins to fill them with the water.

Seeing this, Dmitri decides to take sip from the pool. It tastes crisp, cool, and clear. Much like with the tree, it feels good, yet strange. “You’re going to get yourself in trouble if you keep doing shit like that, mate,” Arlon tells him.

“I’m fine,” Dmitri responds.

“You’re lucky. You had no way of knowing if that water was toxic to you.”

“The life signs we detected are definitely coming from this tree,” Morgan says, looking down at the portable scanner she brought from the ship. As she steps closer to the tree, images begin to flash before her eyes, much like her experience in the bar on Banton.

The flashes are faint and she's not sure what she sees: glimpses of what might be a Pokemon; images from its perspective, looking up at the tree. The tree appears to be out in the open, as a living tree, surrounded by ancient Pokemon. It cycles through from tree to rock to crystal and back to a tree again, slowly sinking into a cave as time passes.

Snapping back to her senses, Morgan spots a glimmer in the water in the spot where the ancient Pokemon was looking up at the tree. She walks over and reaches down to find what seems to be an ancient Pokemon skull encased in crystal. Morgan lifts the skull up to examine it while H approaches the tree.

“Now I just need to grab a sample of this,” H says. He begins to climb up the tree into one of the branches. He breaks off a branch which fades to a dull gray once separated from the tree.

The crew spends a bit more time taking pictures to document the discovery, then return to the _Dunsparce_. Arlon takes the ship up, back into orbit, then jumps into warp space. The _Dunsparce_ drifts along with no plan, no destination, and no certainty of survival.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Earth! The mystery coordinates were the location of Earth! At the time, I totally didn’t see it coming, but once it was revealed, it seemed so obvious. Honestly, what else could have been there? Coming back to this chapter to rewrite it, I added more detail in regard to the characters’ reactions to the surprise at finding Earth, and of course the missing dialogue. A lot of these chapters suffered from a lot of the dialogue being lost to paraphrasing since I didn’t have audio recordings of the sessions. I didn't remember exactly how things went down, so I had a lot of room to play around with character interactions. It was good practice for getting inside the other characters’ heads which was really helpful for future chapters.


	16. Volume 1, Chapter 13: The Void

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Dunsparce crew begin losing their sanity as their ship drifts through warp space.

The _GCS Dunsparce_ floats adrift in warp space. The swirling shades of pink and violet flow past the view ports of the ship; a constant reminder to the crew that they are lost in space. Unlike on the way to Earth, however, the _Dunsparce_ is not in deep warp space, so the crew is not experiencing the same feeling of terror. But without a destination or a way home, uneasiness still permeates throughout the ship.

Dmitri stares through a starboard viewport out into warp space. He gets the feeling that something out in the swirling energy is aware of their presence. He can faintly see shapes moving around in the darkness. "I see stuff floating in warp space!" he shouts to the crew. No one really pays him much notice.

Dmitri heads to the cockpit and fires up the sensors, hoping to get a good read on whatever is out there. The scans determine that a pair of Inkay are floating around by the ship. With this information, Dmitri mans the gun controls and attempts to shoot at the Inkay. However, the Pokemon dodge out of the way. They begin circling around the ship, now quite interested.

"Dmitri, what are you doing?!" Shane shouts at him.

"Trying to get their attention," Dmitri explains.

"There are way better ways to do that,” Shane points out.

“But it worked, didn’t it?” Dmitri snaps back.

"What have you gotten us into?" Shane asks with a sigh. he locks down the weapons so Dmitri can't do any other stupid things. He then sends out an SOS signal, hoping someone will pick it up.

Dmitri waves at the Inkay from the viewport, attracting the attention of one of the Pokemon. The space squid Pokemon floats up to the viewport, bobbing up and down as it does so. It turns upside down and watches Dmitri intently. Dmitri makes his way to the airlock and opens it up. The Inkay curiously floats inside to investigate. Dmitri seals the exterior airlock behind the Pokemon and opens the interior one.

Dmitri holds out a candy bar and the Inkay floats over. The Pokemon begins eating the candy bar quite contently. After a while, Dmitri holds out a Pokeball and the Inkay presses a tentacle against the button, capturing itself.

“See, that wasn’t so bad,” Dmitri says to Shane.

“I guess not,” Shane agrees.

“Want me to see if I can get the other one too?” Dmitri asks him.

“Sure.”

Dmitri releases his newly caught Inkay. “Cthulhu, I need you to get your friend,” he instructs the Pokemon, thinking up a name on the spot. The Pokemon floats back into the airlock and eventually back out into space. The Inkay returns a short while later with the other one in tow.

They repeat the same process of capturing the second Inkay that Dmitri used on the first one. Dmitri and Cthulhu keep the Inkay entertained while Shane prepares a timer ball. Once it reaches maximum power, Shane presses the ball against the Inkay and captures it with ease.

* * *

The hours slowly tick away as the _Dunsparce_ drifts through warp space. With each passing moment, the unsettled feelings of the crew grow. H attempts to work on his experiments to stave off the feelings, but eventually he can longer keep focused. He steps out of the lab to see Dmitri dancing around, praying to the warp, clearly beginning to succumb to warp madness.

"O vast and mighty Warp, please bequeath unto us the path to salvation!" Dmitri shouts.

Upon seeing this H lets out a large scream. In his delusional state, he interprets Dmitri’s growing madness as a sign that he is the Messiah. H runs at the Romanov man and attempts to knock him out with a punch to the face. “You are the Messiah!” H declares. “You must be augmented! Purified!”

"What the hell is going on out here!?” Morgan shouts at her crewmates as she steps into the corridor, drawn by the sounds of shouting. Both Shane and Arlon are close behind. The trio sees their crewmates running around in circles.

“Mighty Warp!” Dmitri shouts. “Mighty Warp! Mighty Warp!”

“You are the Messiah! You must be purified!” H shouts as he chases Dmitri around the room.

“This is getting ridiculous,” Arlon grumbles. He steps between his two crazed crewmates and grabs H to prevent him from hurting Dmitri. “Cut it out, mate.”

“But he must be purified!”

“Oh, just shut up already!”

“Let’s try this,” Shane says as he pulls out a Pokeball and releases his newly captured Inkay. “D.E.R.P., wipe his mind!” The Inkay fires a focused beam of hypnotic energy at H, knocking him out and erasing his memory of the past few minutes. Shane then turns his attention to Dmitri.  "Do you mind stopping?” he asks. “I think H is losing it."

“Alright,” Dmitri agrees, seeming a bit more coherent now.

Arlon brings the unconscious H to his room while Shane heads into the lab and Morgan returns to the cockpit. Once he drops H off in his bed, Arlon joins Morgan at the front of the ship. Arlon plops himself down in the pilot’s seat and begins fiddling around with the various switches on the console while Morgan stares out the viewport. She observes a strange warp effect appearing in front of the ship.

Back in the lab, Shane begins scrawling a call for help on a piece of paper using his Inkay’s ink. Recalling the warp being that Gilgamesh mentioned, he wonders if he can contact it somehow. Once he completes his message, Shane releases it out the airlock and watches it burn up in purple flames.

* * *

Time continues to tick away aboard the _Dunsparce_. The minutes become hours, the hours become days. With every passing moment, the crew drifts closer to warp madness.

In the lab, both H and Shane have been steadily sinking down into madness. Shane stares down at the Inkay ink splattered across the table in the lab. He sees glowing energy rising out of one of the puddles. Shane sticks his hand in and watches it rise up out of another.

On the other side of the room, H looks up from his work to see Shane slapping his hand against the table, splattering ink everywhere.”You fool!” he shouts. “That only works with lava!" he then looks back down at his Numel and continues running experiments with the Pokemon’s lava. He turns his head and looks down through the floor at space, now visible through the gaping hole the lava has melted through the floor. "What have I done!?"

Shane glances over at H, who is now cautiously walking around a wide swath of empty floor. “What the hell are you doing?” he asks.

“There’s a giant hole! Don’t you see the giant hole!?” H shouts, tearing his eyes off the hole in the floor.

“There’s nothing there!” Shane shouts at him.

H looks back to see the hole is no longer there. “Hmm. That’s odd… I could have sworn… No matter! There is work to be done!” H storms out of the room and returns a short while later with the heat suit. Shane looks on as H begins to fill the suit with lava, which miraculously holds it in.

“You shall be the greatest Pokemon of all!” H declares to the heat suit. “You shall be Heaty and you shall be mine!” The crazed scientist pulls out a Pokeball and throws it at the heat suit. He and Shane watch as it is pulled into the ball. “Wonderful!”

* * *

Morgan walks through the main starboard corridor of the _Dunsparce_. As she passes by Dmitri’s room, she sees him painting on the walls, drawing strange glyphs with his Inkay’s ink. The glyphs trigger another vision; Morgan sees ancient ruins located somewhere in Sinai space. She doesn’t quite know why, but she knows that they are important.

"Dmitri, what are you doing?" She asks. Dmitri says nothing and continues to stare at the ink glyphs on the walls. Morgan walks over and slaps him across the face. “Pay attention!” she shouts.

“Huh, uh, what?” Dmitri asks, snapping back to reality.

“What are you doing?” Morgan asks. “What is this?” She points at the writings on the wall.

“It’s a recreation of a wall writings in ancient ruins in Sinai space,” Dmitri explains. “I… don’t know why I know that.”

"What does it say?"

"Thy powers vast, thy form unseen  
O lord of warp, please heed our call  
Take us to where we know we've been  
Or take us to our own downfall.  
And should you grant your mark to one,  
Their power shall blot out the sun."

"What does it mean?"

"I don't know…”  Dmitri trails off, once again returning to blankly staring at the wall. Morgan watches him for several minutes, pondering the meaning of the glyphs.

"Giratina!" Dmitri suddenly screams, snapping Morgan back to attention. Dmitri runs out of the room in the direction of the cockpit. Concerned about what he might do, Morgan quickly chases after him.

One by one, each member of the crew enters the cockpit, as if somehow drawn there. A shadow begins to form in front of the ship, materializing out of the strange warp effect Morgan had noticed early. The shadow slowly drifts closer and seems as if it part of the view port. Dmitri fires a beam of hypnotic energy at it but it bounces back and hits him dead on, knocking him to the floor.

The ship begins to shake violently and it feels as if it is being pulled into warp space, despite the fact that it is already in warp space. The glowing purple and pink energies of warp space begin to fade, leaving only a dark void which seems to stare into the crew’s very souls.

A glowing pair of red eyes emerges from the void, seemingly locking eyes with everyone at once. H screams in panic and begins mashing the fire button but nothing happens since Shane had locked the weapons down after Dmitri had fired them at the Inkay. Shane also panics and teleports himself away to the cargo hold.

"Giratina..." Morgan whispers, the name pounding in her head. In response, the eyes focus all their attention on her. "What do you want?" Morgan asks. “Can you help us?” Nothing happens.

"Take us home,” Arlon says. The eyes shift their attention to him, causing his stomach to churn.

"What is that?" H asks, falling down to the floor. The eyes appear above him, looking right down at him.

Dmitri reaches out and touches the eyes. He feels only nothingness. He steps forward into the eyes but they vanish, leaving him standing there like an idiot.

In the cargo hold, Shane huddles in a corner. He feels slightly more aware now, realizing that the warp being Gilgamesh had mentioned must have found them. "Speak of the devil and he shall appear," he says. The eyes appear before him. He stares into the eyes and feels the void staring back at him. "Can we strike a deal?" he asks.

This seems to elicit a response from the eyes as Shane suddenly finds himself in complete darkness. He looks around to see his crewmates standing in a circle. A giant creature appears in the center, its name burning in each of their minds: Giratina.

“Please, can you take us home?” Morgan begs the creature. “I would give anything… what do you want?”

“I offer you my servitude!” Dmitri declares to Giratina. "I can spread warp madness to all in your name!”

"I am not a Human, but a creation of Humans,” Shane says to Giratina. “My servitude may be more useful to you. With the power to warp through shadows, nothing will be safe."

Giratina looks at Dmitri, then at Shane, then at both of them, then back to Shane. Shane observes that it seems to be choosing between two different toys. In the end, Giratina approaches Shane and reaches out.

"Well it will be fun either way," Shane says as he reaches back. As his hand makes contact with Giratina, an intense searing pain travels up his arm. A light appears on his hand and swirls up to his shoulder in a glowing pattern of black, red, blue, and purple.

Suddenly the crew finds themselves back aboard the _Dunsparce_ , fully cognizant once again. H finds the heat suit lying on the floor at his feet with a Pokeball taped to it.

Shane rushes back to the cockpit and takes a seat in the co-pilot’s seat as power begins to surge through him. He envisions the vast network that is the Warp, determined to fly the ship back to civilization. He reaches out and attempts to pull the ship along. Arlon stares at him in awe as the mark on his arm begins to glow brilliantly.

* * *

The _Dunsparce_ flies out of the Sector 25 warp gate at incredible speed, right into a small fleet of Federation ships! The ships move in, boxing the _Dunsparce_ in. The large destroyer heading the fleet hails the _Dunsparce_ and Arlon accepts the call. An admiral appears on the screen.

"Attention undeclared ship, this is Rear Admiral Douglas Haverson of the _FNS Claymore_ ,” the Admiral declares. “You have entered the site of an active investigation."

"We have business here," Morgan tells him.

"We must search your ship."

The destroyer transmits docking instructions, then the admiral hangs up. Arlon flies the _Dunsparce_ to the destroyer and docks as instructed.

“Quickly! You must hide!” H shouts at Shane. He drags him to the lab and directs him to hide under a table. He then exits the room and sets off a string shot grenade,  something he designed while the ship had been drifting through warp space. 

Meanwhile, Arlon heads to the airlock to greet the admiral and his men. On the way there he notices Dmitri's wall writing but there's nothing he can do about it now. He shuts the door but doesn’t think it will prevent anyone from seeing it.

Arlon approaches the airlock and opens it up. The admiral steps onboard, followed by several Federation marines. “How can I help you fine gentlemen?” Arlon asks.

"We have to search your ship and ask you a few questions," the admiral explains.

"Sure thing, mate,” Arlon tells him. The admiral nods at the marines and they fan out to search the ship. The admiral heads toward the warp drive and motions for Arlon to follow.

Once at the drive, the admiral brings up the jump log and begins scanning through it. "What was your business here a few days ago?" he asks Arlon, quickly glancing up at him.

"We make deliveries between here and Sector 17." Morgan tells him as she walks into the room.

"Hmm. Yes. This seems to check out with your jump data," the Admiral says. He then looks back down and continues scrolling. “Hmm… That’s odd.” He looks up once again. "After the battle you were reported to have left the sector. Where did you go?"

"Sector 17,”  Morgan tells him. "Those pirates messed with the gate so it might not be recorded."

"There is no record of you having jumped from Sector 17,” the admiral points out.

"Okay, full disclosure, mate," Arlon speaks up. "The gate launched us into deep warp space without a destination. We've been lost in warp space for days and by some miracle it spit us out here again.”

"Why did you not mention this sooner?"

"Well we thought you wouldn't believe us," Arlon lies. Of course the real reason is that he knows that the Federation would jump at the chance to take credit for their discoveries if they didn’t keep them secret.

"Very well,” the admiral tells him. “We will continue our search of the ship." He walks out of the warp drive room, Arlon and Morgan following behind him. He makes his way to the personal quarters where he finds Dmitri’s wall writing.

"What in the hell is this?" the admiral asks. "This looks like the product of warp madness, except..."

"Except what, mate?" Arlon asks.

"Nothing,” the admiral says. “Take pictures of it," he orders his men. "I want this whole place documented."

"What?" Arlon asks. "Why?"

"This is an ongoing investigation. We cannot discount any of this as being connected."

“Whatever you say, mate,” Arlon grumbles. 

The admiral checks the rest of the rooms but finds nothing of interest and moves on to the lab. "You probably don't want to go in there, mate," Arlon warns the admiral as he reaches for the console to open the door.

"We need to search the entire ship."

"Take a look for yourself,” Arlon response, opening the door to reveal the sticky mess H unleashed in the lab to hide Shane.

"Care to explain?" the admiral asks.

"You will probably want to talk to our scientist,” Arlon tells him.

As if on cue, H walks up behind them. “Well, you see, I was experimenting with string shot and my tests failed spectacularly,” he explains.

“We need you to get this cleaned up right away,” the admiral tells him, sounding quite annoyed.

“I’m afraid that all this string shot might be a bit toxic,” H lies.

“Very well,” the admiral tells him. “We will call in a hazmat team to deal with this.”

He and his men step away from the door to call in the hazmat team, granting Shane the time to gather all the sensitive materials in the lab and teleport them along with himself to the smuggling compartment in the cargo hold.

* * *

Several hours later, the hazmat team shows up and gets the lab cleaned up. The soldiers then search the room and find nothing of note as Shane had brought it all to the smuggling compartment in the cargo hold.

Satisfied, the admiral moves on to the cargo hold. "We need you to declare all your cargo,” he announces as he steps into the room.

"Just some empty crates at the moment," Arlon tells him.

The admiral motions to the crates and his men begin searching through them. They move through the empty crates at a surprisingly quick pace, moving them aside and slowly getting closer to the hidden smuggling compartment.

“Look at this!” H suddenly shouts, realizing he needs to buy Shane time to teleport away once again. He pops a pogo-stick augmentation that he had installed in his delusion state while lost in warp space out of his stomach and begins bouncing around on it.

The two soldiers searching the crates stop to look at him, then look at each other with confused expressions on their faces.

"Warp madness?" one asks his comrade.

"Warp madness,” the other agrees.

Seizing the opportunity H provided, Arlon sneaks out of the cargo hold and sets off an alarm. Unfortunately the admiral notices him walking back into the room. “What did you do?" he asks,.

"Nothing,” Arlon replies.

"Search him,” the admiral orders his men.

The two Federation soldiers searching the crates move in and being patting Arlon down. They don’t find anything of interest other than his pistol. "You'd be crazy not to have a gun in the Outer Rim," Arlon says, shrugging off their concerned expressions.

Before anyone can say anything else, H sets off another string shot grenade, covering the a large area of the cargo hold in sticky string. The Federation soldiers reflexively reach for the their guns and point them at H. "Sorry,” he says. "A failed experiment, as I said. I keep them on me so I can keep an eye on them."

"Make sure it doesn't happen again or it will be on your head,” the admiral warns him sternly.

Fortunately for H, he does not need to set off another as his little “accident” provided Shane a chance to teleport back to the lab. The admiral and his men cut themselves down and resume their search of the room, discovering the now empty smuggling compartment.

"What's this?" the admiral asks, raising an eyebrow at Arlon.

"It came with the ship, mate,” Arlon tells him. “We don't use it, of course. We  got the ship on a discount. Beggars can't be choosers, you know?"

"I believe you. But if we catch you using it, you will be dealt with. Your ship is clean. Stay out of trouble."

* * *

Once the Federation soldiers leave the ship, Arlon sets a course for the nearest location of one of Mr. Silver’s ships, coincidentally just on the other side of Sector 25. On the way, the crew come across an ice world called Fluroth with a main settlement and a few ice farms and decide to land and take a look.

Arlon sets the _Dunsparce_ down in an unpopulated area and the crew sets out into the cold to explore. After a bit of wandering around, the crew comes across an area with many wild Pokemon. Engaging them in battle, Dmitri captures a Glaceon and a Swinub, H captures a Snorunt, Shane captures a Bergmite, and Arlon captures a Sneasel.

The crew explores the planet for a little while longer before returning to the _Dunsparce_ due to the cold. They spend a bit of time warming up on the ship before Arlon takes the ship back up into orbit. then jumps to their destination. As the _Dunsparce_ approaches Mr. Silver’s ship, the ship receives docking instructions from the gigantic vessel. It appears that Mr. Silver has been expecting them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was a long session! We went well over an hour later than we normally had before this point and got so much done. I think this was the most time I’ve spent on rewriting a session. It was just so hard for me to get through this for some reason. All the other chapters up to this point had been done weeks prior to when I originally posted them on the first site this series was uploaded on, but this one was only finished a couple days beforehand. But enough about that.
> 
> H's player was late so we ended up starting without him. As a penalty the GM gave him some low focus rolls so when he showed up H was very delusional which added to the comedy as the crew of the Dunsparce went insane with warp madness. I still can't believe he tried to catch the heat suit. He statted it and everything before the GM told him he didn't actually catch it. He even rolled an 8 on the d100 to capture it!
> 
> We went for hours with just straight up RP, with only a couple wild Pokemon battles at the end. We even avoided fighting the Inkay in the beginning because Dmitri's player did like James in the anime and just befriended them. I can't believe how many Pokemon he charmed to capture in this session. It's ridiculous. I ended up cutting down the wild battles at the end in the rewrite but he also charmed a capture out of the Swinub as well.
> 
> But the main attraction this session was Giratina! Our first Legendary encounter. I wasn’t particularly interested in a brand but everyone else was sort of vying for Giratina’s favor, especially Shane's player and Dmitri's player, so narratively it was basically just Shane and Dmitri competing for a brand from Giratina. In the end Shane won out and was granted power by Giratina.


	17. Volume 1, Chapter 14: The Price of Revenge

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Dunsparce crew meets with Mr. Silver after their trip to unexplored Space. Arlon finally finds closure when they run across his former Red Suns compatriots, but it comes at a price.

The _Dunsparce_ approaches the massive ship owned by Mr. Silver. The small bucket flies into the port hangar of the much larger ship and Arlon sets it down. Just like the last time they met with their mysterious employer, the crew are led by a security team to a dimly lit office. The familiar silhouetted figure of a Mr. Mime stands behind the desk, back turned, looking out through the viewport into the vastness of space.

"Mr. Silver?" Morgan asks.

The Mr. Mime turns around and looks at the group of individuals gathered in the office. A static horizontal line displays on the screen-face.

"We've been to Earth," Morgan continues, a stern tone in her voice.

"Ah, yes,” Mr. Silver replies. The line flickers for a moment, displaying the wave-form of Mr. Silver’s voice. It is soon replaced by data from the crew’s scans of Earth scrolling across as he analyzes it.

"How much are you willing to pay us?" Dmitri asks.

"How much are you willing to part with?" Mr. Silver asks in return.

“Here’s what we brought,” Arlon tells him. He nods to his crewmates and they begin unloading their finds onto the desk. “We found these fossils in a cave,” he says, pointing to the collection of Zubat fossils, save for a couple that were left on the ship. “Further in we discovered a strange pool of water that was so clear and so purified. Inside the pool was this crystal tree… thing. We have samples of both the water and the tree.”

Scans of the samples placed on the desk scroll across Mr. Silver's screen-face. He appears to be analyzing them and comparing the results to data he already has.

"And we have this," Morgan adds, revealing the skull that she found in the pool.

"I see," Mr. Silver says. He shifts his focus to the skull. The data stream on his screen-face moves faster than ever.

"You said you'd pay us," Morgan continues. "How much?"

"I am prepared to give you one-hundred-thousand credits for the skull."

"For that much, it must be important,” Morgan replies. “What is it?”

"It is... _interesting_ ," Mr. Silver replies.

"I told myself I wouldn't part with the skull until I knew what it was,” Morgan tells him. “Will you tell me what it is?" 

"Perhaps."

"Perhaps is not good enough."

"What else are you willing to give me in exchange for this future information?"

"I have more information on the Genesect."

"You are proposing an exchange of information?"

"I suppose."

"Very well."

"How do we know you won't turn back on the deal?" Shane asks.

"In my line of business, my word is worth a great deal,” Mr. Silver tells him. He remains focused on Shane, as if analyzing him. "Did you find something else in the void?" he asks.

"I assume you've noticed by now,” Shane replies. He lifts his arm and shows off the mark from Giratina.

"Naturally."

"I'm still not on the table for a trade."

“Let’s return to business then, shall we?” Arlon cuts in.

“Very well,” Mr. Silver replies. “As I said before, I am willing to offer you one-hundred-thousand credits for the skull.”

“And how much for the other items?” Arlon asks him.

Mr. Silver looks down at the samples on his desk. Numbers roll across the screen-face as he calculates a price value. "Five-hundred each for the fossils. Two-thousand each for the water samples. Twenty-five-hundred each for the tree samples."

“I don’t suppose you’d be willing to pay us a bit more, would you, mate?”  Arlon asks.

“What more could I possibly give you?”

"It was a dangerous mission,” Dmitri responds. “We should get a bit more compensation for risking our lives.”

"It _was_ a dangerous mission,” Shane agrees. “One that was probably unsurvivable. But we came back. That should be more than enough to warrant more compensation.

"But you did go by choice," Mr. Silver points out.

“Look mate, we just want a bit more money,” Arlon tells him bluntly. “Either that, or you don’t get any of this.”

“Very well. I will add an additional five-hundred each for the water samples, plus a bit of extra compensation to each of you. This brings the grand total up to one-hundred-twenty-seven-thousand-eight-hundred-eighty-eight credits. This is my final offer.”

“We’ll take it,” Arlon tells him.

“The transfer is being made,” Mr. Silver responds. He then turns back to Morgan. "As a token of good faith: on the so-called Genesect, should you choose to act, here is a set of coordinates. You might want to hurry. You have eighteen hours should you choose to act upon this. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have another appointment. I advise you leave before then."

* * *

As the crew steps back into the hangar, another ship flies into the hangar. It's none other than the Red Suns’ heavy frigate, the _UAS Corsair_. Upon seeing the ship again, Arlon can feel the anger building inside him. _They must be the other appointment Mr. Silver was talking about_ , he realizes. It’s time for Garth to pay for what he’s done.

The past few weeks adrift in warp space had given Arlon clarity of thought. In his mind there can be no doubt, no other course of action. It is clear now to Arlon that Devlin Garth had somehow been responsible for the death of Lars Ricketts, the former leader of the Red Suns, and that he had somehow found a way to pin the blame on Arlon.

Instead of walking back toward the _Dunsparce_ , Arlon stands across from the _Corsair_ , waiting for his one-time allies to disembark. “What are you doing!?” Shane shouts at him.

“This might be my only chance for revenge!” Arlon shouts back.

“We should just leave!” Morgan jumps in.

“No! Garth is here! It’s time for him to pay!”

“Let’s just go!” Morgan shouts back. She grabs his arm and tries to pull him away but it’s too late. The ramp drops from the Corsair, revealing Arlon’s former Red Suns compatriots, Devlin Garth, the ruthless man who Arlon so despised, and Rena Bordeaux, the Red Suns’ expert sniper, a woman who  had once been very close to Arlon.

"Well, well, well, if it ain't Arlon Jett," Devlin says to Arlon, the words drawling out in his outer colony Alliance accent "Back from the dead, I see. Ya here to spoil another job?"

"Enough of your games, Garth! Arlon shouts back. “I know it was you! I know you set me up!"

"You have no proof,”  Garth fires back.  "As far as I'm concerned yer here to ruin another job, just like Parisia.”

"I have my own business here," Arlon responds.

"Hell, I don't know yer motives. I don't know who's payin' you."

"Arlon, will I not be able to do experiments until these guys are gone?" H asks, bored with talking.

"No you will not," Arlon tells him.

"Alright then," H says as he releases his Rhyhorn. This sets everyone off and they all reach for the own Pokeballs and release their Pokemon. Arlon sends out his Houndoom, Shane sends out his Houndour, Morgan her Espeon, and Dmitri his Inkay.

Rena releases her Alakazam, a Pokemon Arlon had seen in action many times. However, the Pokemon Devlin releases fills Arlon with rage. Arlon finds himself facing off with an Aggron. Not just any Aggron, but the one he had trained up from an Aron, the one who had been his faithful companion up until he faked his own death.

“How like you! Using my own bloody Pokemon against me!” Arlon shouts at Devlin.

Devlin says nothing in response. A slight smirk forms on his face as his Aggron steps forward and lets out a mighty roar.

“Cerberus, use Fire Fang!” Arlon commands his Houndoom. The quick canine Pokemon rushes at the Aggron and takes a bite at the large Pokemon with his fiery jaws. _Sorry old friend_ , Arlon thinks.

“Yvonne, Bite that Alakazam!” Morgan commands her Espeon. Her Pokemon runs up to the Alakazam and takes a nasty bite at him.

“Sorcier, use Focus Blast!” Rena commands her Alakazam, pointing at Arlon’s Houndoom. Ignoring the pain from the bite wound, the psychic Pokemon builds up a ball of focused energy and launches it at Cerberus. The blast hits the Houndoom dead on, sending the Pokemon flying backwards into a nearby crate. Arlon winces at the sound of the Pokemon’s bones cracking from the impact. The Houndoom makes one feeble attempt to get back up, then falls still, dead.

"No!" Arlon shouts as he runs to his Pokemon’s side.

“You always had too much affection for yer Pokemon,” Devlin jabs, a grin showing on his face.

“You’ll pay for this!” Arlon shouts as he releases his Aron. Devlin grunts out a laugh at the sight of the small pre-evolved form of his Pokemon.

“F.I.R.E., use Bite!” Shane commands his Houndour. “Finish that Alakazam off!” His Pokemon runs up to the Alakazam takes a nasty bite out of him, taking him down before it can get of another deadly shot.

“Cthulhu, Psybeam!” Dmitri instructs his Inkay, pointing at Devlin’s Aggron.

“Dodge it!” Devlin commands his Pokemon. The giant metal Pokemon lunges out of the way of the beam, which then flies off and hits the wall. “Now, Titan, hit that Rhyhorn with Iron Tail!" The Aggron roars, then charges at #1. Titan lifts his powerful tail as he approaches and slams it into the Rhyhorn, dealing a mighty blow.

“#1, use Stomp!” H commands his Pokemon in response! However, the Rhyhorn misses his mark, still staggering from the hit. H recalls the Pokemon, then grapples away on his extendo-legs. Once a good ways away, H releases his Snorunt.

Seizing the opportunity, Rena recalls her fainted Alakazam and sends out her Gardevoir. Shane then vanishes from sight. All the combatants stare at the spot where he had been standing in confusion. It is only momentary, as they are soon sucked back into the heat of battle.

“Ballerine, use Moonblast!” Rena commands her Pokemon. The Gardevoir lifts her arms and summons up a massive ball of energy which she then lobs at Dmitri’s Inkay, knocking the Pokemon out with one hit. Dmitri quickly recalls his fainted Pokemon and sends out his Haunter.

Without Shane there to instruct her, F.I.R.E. looks at Titan, determining the hulking Aggron to be the biggest threat, then spits out fire at the Pokemon.

“Titan, use Iron Defense!” Devlin commands the Aggron. The Pokemon hunkers down and takes a defensive stance, ready for another hit.

“Ironhide, use Iron Head!” Arlon commands his Aron, pointing at Rena’s Gardevoir and looking to get some payback. Ironhide charges at the Gardevoir and lowers his head for impact.

“Dodge with Teleport!” Rena commands her Pokemon in response. The Gardevoir warps away at the last second, just before Ironhide makes contact, causing the Aron to pass right through open air. Shane then reappears right at the Gardevoir's new location, his mark burning brightly. He slashes at the Pokemon with his marked hand, delivering a nasty blow.

“Wilhelm, use Shadow Punch!” Dmitri orders his Haunter. The ghostly pokemon flies up the the Gardevoir before she has a chance to react to Shane and swings at her with his phantasmic fist, further whittling her down.

“Time to finish it #8!” H shouts. He pulls the Snorunt at himself with one of his extendo-legs, then bounces the Pokemon off his chest pogo stick, sending it flying at the Gardevoir. “Headbutt!” #8 slams into the Gardevoir and knocks her into the wall.

“F.I.R.E. use Ember!” Shane commands his Houndour. The fiery canine unleashes another like of flames at Devlin's Aggron, which growls in response.

“Time to take you down,” Devlin says calmly. “Stone Edge!” he commands the Aggron. The big metal monster then looks down at the Houndour spitting flames at him and swipes at her with a lethal claw, killing yet another Pokemon. Shane can do nothing but look on with shock and horror.

“Ironhide, use Rock Slide!” Arlon commands his Aron. The small metal Pokemon summons up a surge of rocks as he charges across the room at Rena’s Gardevoir, and then unleashes them, knocking the Pokemon out of the fight.

Rena immediately recalls her Gardevoir and sends out her Metagross. “That’s enough for you, mate,” Arlon says as he recalls his Aron in response. He then pulls out a different Pokeball and releases his Quilava. Dmitri also recalls his Haunter, then he and Shane send out new Pokemon. Dmitri his Trapinch, and Shane his Clefairy.

“This beast is a problem!” H shouts. He pulls out one of his string shot grenades and throws it at Devlin’s Aggron trapping it in place to keep it from doing any more damage.

“Nice work, mate!” Arlon shouts to his crewmate. With the Aggron out of the picture, Arlon sets his sights on Rena’s Metagross. “Cinder, use Ember!” His quilava spits out a lick of flame at the giant metal Pokemon, dealing some significant damage.

“Yvonne, use Sand-Attack!” Morgan commands her Espeon. The quick Pokemon kicks up some dirt and dust from the floor into the Metagross’s eyes, temporarily blinding it.

“Ordinateur, use Shadow Ball!” Rena commands her Pokemon in response. The Metagross fires off a ball of dark energy back at the Espeon, but due to its blindness it is unable to meet its mark.

“#8, use Powdered Snow!” H commands his Snorunt. The Pokemon follows up Yvonne’s attack with a blast of snow, slowly whittling the Metagross down. Dmitri then raises his hand and casts out a blast of hypnotic energy, putting the Pokemon to sleep.

Titan attempts to land an attack of his own, but he is unable to break free of the string trapping him in place. The Aggron can do little more than thrash about wildly. H seizes the opportunity to blast the Pokemon with a surge of electricity. Realizing that his Pokemon is not useful in his current condition, Devlin recalls him, causing the string falls uselessly to the floor. He then reaches for another Pokeball and sends out his Absol.

“Cinder, use Ember!”

“#8, use Icy Wind!”

Both Arlon and H command their Pokemon to attack this new threat. The two launch their attacks, hitting the Absol hard and fast.

“R.A.G.E., use Wake-Up Slap!” Shane commands his Pokemon. The Clefairy bounces up to the sleeping Metagross and smacks the metallic Pokemon around as hard as he can, dealing a ton of damage. The Metagross wakes up for a brief before falling to the ground, unconscious.

Rena recalls the Pokemon, then turns and walks away.

"Don't you walk away from me!" Arlon shouts at her, still angry that her Pokemon killed his Houndoom. H grapples himself up onto the ceiling above Rena and throws another string shot grenade. Rena grunts as the grenade collides with her and then lets out a sound of pure disgust as it explodes, covering her with sticky string and trapping her in place. 

Now everyone shifts their attention to Devlin and his Pokemon. Dmitri fires off another blast of hypnotic energy at the Absol, but the quick Pokemon dodges out of the way.

“Cinder, use Ember!” Arlon commands his Quilava.

“Pandora, use Sucker Punch!” Devlin commands his Absol as the fiery Pokemon prepares to attack. The Absol runs up to the Quilava and takes a swipe at her, knocking her out before she gets a chance to attack. 

“#8, use Powdered Snow!” H commands his Snorunt. The Pokemon fires a blast of snow at the Absol, but she doesn’t seem to mind.

“Biollante, use Rock Slide!” Dmitri commands his Trapinch. Biollante summons up a massive tide of rocks and hurls them at the Absol, absolutely flooring the Pokemon, taking her down in one hit.

Devlin quickly recalls his Absol and sends out his Tyrantrum, a lethal brute of a Pokemon that Arlon is all too familiar with. The Tyrantrum lets out a mighty roar as he emerges from his ball. H immediately blasts it with another bolt of electricity while his crewmates switch out their Pokemon. Dmitri switches back to his Haunter while Arlon sends out his newly evolved Frogadier.

“Jiraiya, use Water Pulse!” Arlon commands his Pokemon. The Frogadier spits out a blast of water at the Tyrantrum, landing the first hit on the beast.

“#8, use Powdered Snow!” H commands his Snorunt. The Pokemon shoots off another blast of snow, dealing a bit more damage to the Tyrantrum.

“R.A.G.E., use Sing!” Shane instructs his Clefairy. The Pokemon lets out a soothing melody which puts beast to sleep. “Now use Wake-Up Slap!” The Clefairy approaches the sleeping Tyrantrum and hits it hard, delivering a nasty blow.

The Tyrantrum snaps back to alertness, but before he can react, the others instruct their Pokemon to attack. “Use Water Pulse!” Arlon commands his Frogadier. “Use Powdered Snow!” H commands his Snorunt. The two Pokemon unleash their attacks and bring the Tyrantrum down.

Devlin recalls the Tyrantrum and releases Titan once again, now free of his sticky restraints. This time the crew is prepared and unleash the full force of their Pokemon.

“Wilhelm, Night Shade!”

“Yvonne, use Psybeam!”

“#8, use Powdered Snow!”

“R.A.G.E., use Double-Slap!

“Jiraiya, use Water Pulse!”

The Aggron manages to endure through the hits and prepares to fight back. “Use Iron Tail!” Devlin commands the Pokemon. Titan lunges forward, then slams his tail down at #8. The Snorunt miraculously manages to dodge out of the way at the last second, leaving the Aggron vulnerable for another hit.

“Jiraiya, finish him off with Water Pulse!” Arlon commands his Frogadier. The frog Pokemon fires off one last pulse of water and finally takes Titan down.

Devlin recalls his Pokemon, then turns and starts running. Still hanging from the ceiling, H quickly lobs another string shot grenade at Devlin, stopping him dead in his tracks. “You’re coming with us,” Arlon tells him coldly.

* * *

Back aboard the _Dunsparce_ , Arlon shoves Rena and Devlin into the cargo hold rather harshly. He moves to follow them inside but Morgan grabs his arm. “You need to calm down,” she tells him.

“I _am_ calm,” he replies coldly. He then nods over at Rena. “Keep her in earshot. I’ll take care of _him_.” He then shifts his gaze to Devlin.

Morgan nods and then heads over to deal with Rena while Arlon grabs Devlin and drags him along the floor, around some crates. He then picks him up and aggressively slams his back against one of crates. “Start talking.”

"'Bout what?" Devlin responds snarkily.

"Why are you meeting with Mr. Silver?"

"It's a job."

"What job?"

"I don't know yet. You so kindly _interrupted_ me when I was going to get it."

"You attacked us," Arlon retorts.

"The way I see it, you came here to ruin another job."

"You and I both know I had nothing to do with what happened on Parisia!" Arlon shouts at Garth, slamming him into the crates again.

"Do we?" Garth replies with a sarcastic tone.

"Enough of your bullshit!" Arlon shouts, bashing Garth's head into the crate. "I know you did it! I know you sabotaged the job and I know you killed Lars!"

"You ain't got evidence."

“Fuck you.” Arlon punches him hard in the face before slamming him into the crates again. Devlin spits blood back at him. "I don't need any bloody evidence. The answer is as clear as day. Everyone knows you wanted to take over the Red Suns. You wanted to turn the team into some bloody pirate gang.  You and Lars were always at each other's throats about it. With him dead and me out of the picture you could take over and turn the Red Suns into something they're not. I have no idea how the hell the others would even go along with you pissing on Lars' grave like this.”

Devlin just smirks at him.

“You must be a real idiot to think you could get away with it forever. Did you really think that if I did it I would so _bloody_ stupid as to not pin it on a piece of shit like you? Now... you're gonna tell me why you did it!"

"What's there to tell? Really not that much of a story. I saw an opportunity and I took it and there ain't nothin' you can say to prove it.” He just smirks at Arlon. "Ya gonna shoot me?" he asks, glancing at Arlon’s hand resting on his gun.

Arlon unholsters it and presses it up against the base of Devlin’s chin. "I would very much like to,” he tells him. “But you're no good to me dead. Now move,” he adds, shoving Devlin back toward the center of the cargo hold. “I think someone has something to say to you.

Arlon brings Devlin back around the corner where he sees Rena glaring at him. His smug expression quickly vanishes, replaced by one of defeat as he realizes that he talked his way into a corner. Arlon shoves him down onto the floor.

“You can untie her now,” Arlon tells Morgan. He then looks over at Rena. “So now you know the truth.”

“I suppose I do,” she responds, still eyeing him suspiciously.

“So what happens now?” he asks.

“I’m not sure,” she tells him.

"Look, Rena, I know you probably still don’t trust me, so I’m not trying to tell you what to do or anything, but I _know_ that you think that things were better when Lars was in charge, when the Red Suns were a respectable team of bounty hunters, not some bloody pirate scum."

"What would you suggest?"

"Well right now it seems like you're the most logical choice to take charge now."

"Oh really?"

"Well, with this bastard out of the way…” Arlon trails off as he looks down at Devlin. He gives him a good kick in the ribs. “With him out of the way, you're the only person left to take charge right now, especially since we, uh, kind of dumped Kiril on a random planet.”

She shakes her head and lets out a bit of a chuckle, not at all surprised to hear this. “So zat’s what ‘appened to the big guy.”

"Yeah… I can give you the coordinates of the planet so you can go pick him up.”

“Assuming you let me leave.”

“Why wouldn’t I? Now that you know the truth, you can take charge and keep the Red Suns off my back.”

"I don't really ‘ave a choice do I?"

"Not really."

"Fine," she says with a sigh. She then nods at Devlin."What about ‘im?"

"As much as I'd like to kill this son-of-a-bitch right now, I'll leave it up to you."

"You were burned most by ‘im,” Rena tells him. “I’ll let you decide ‘is fate.”

“Well I’ll promise you this: his fate won’t be kind.”

“I would certainly ‘ope so.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And yet another long session. We went over by two hours this time. This was really the point in the campaign where we just got super into it and just wanted to keep going at the end every session. Of course, because of that I had to split this rewrite into two parts. 
> 
> The big thing that happened this session was that Arlon got to achieve his character goals. This was around the point when I decided I was going to roll a new character for Volume 2 and the GM and I had discussed that I wanted to at least achieve my goals for Arlon before the end of Volume 1, but I hadn’t expected it to happen this session.
> 
> The battle with the Red Suns was intense. It was the first time we had Pokemon deaths, and they both happened to be of the same evolutionary line. F.I.R.E. and Cerberus, who were caught together on Silicron all those weeks before, have been laid to rest. I was kind of bummed when my Houndoom died since it was going to be one of the key members of my team, but in the end I ended up just keeping Quilava on my team to cover fire types and then stuck with my Mightyena for dark type.
> 
> After the battle, It was time to interrogate Devlin Garth and dive into Arlon’s backstory The whole thing ended up being straightforward, but then again, Arlon was a pretty cut-and-dry character. He actually became much more interesting in Volume 2 as a side character who would appear from time to time. It was fun to go back and expand upon Arlon’s backstory in the origin story I wrote for him before I began these rewrites and I got to tie in some details from that into this chapter which was neat. The big one being that Devlin’s Aggron is actually the very same one Arlon used to have before the start of Spacemon, the very same one you saw in action in the origin story.
> 
> So that wrapped up Arlon’s plotline, leaving only the main plot to get to, which is built off of the meeting with Mr. Silver at the beginning of this chapter. And that’s what will be covered in the second chapter from this session.


	18. Volume 1, Chapter 15: The Calm Before the Storm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Following the lead on the Genesect provided by Mr. Silver, the Dunsparce crew finds new allies and enemies.

The _Dunsparce_ sits docked at Dedun Station in Sector 25, halfway between the warp gate and the location of Mr. Silver’s ship. While waiting for the ship to refuel, the crew browse some of the shops aboard the station, looking for anything that might be helpful on their next mission. While his crewmates shop for supplies, Arlon stands just outside the docking tube, speaking with Rena while she awaits the arrival of the _Corsair_.

“So what happens next?” Arlon asks.

“What do you mean?” Rena asks him.

“What’s next for the Red Suns?” Arlon clarifies. “I imagine things will change with Garth out of the picture.”

“Oh, of that I ‘ave no doubt,” Rena agrees. “Ze man may ‘ave been a brute, but ‘e kept all ze pirates in line with an iron fist. I imagine zey will all be fighting for control now zat ‘e’s gone. Maybe you should come back with me. We sure could use you.”

“As much as I’d like to, I still have something I need to finish first,” Arlon tells her, nodding his head toward the _Dunsparce_. “We’re chasing a major lead, one that could have major implications for the entire Galaxy. I have to see it through to the end.”

“What’s zis? Arlon Jett caring about what happens to ze rest of the Galaxy?” Rena asks with a laugh. “You certainly ‘ave changed.”

“Yeah, I guess I have,” Arlon agrees.

Suddenly they are interrupted when Rena’s comm starts beeping. “Oh, zat’s my ride. It’s time for me to get out of ‘ere. Don’t get yourself killed.”

“I don’t plan on dying just yet, luv,” Arlon tells her, a smirk forming on his. “You’ll be hearing from me soon.”

“I’ll ‘old you to your word.”

* * *

Once the ship is fueled up and fully stocked, Arlon detaches the _Dunsparce_ from the station and makes the jump to the Sector 25 warp gate, then from there to the coordinates provided by Mr. Silver, located in Federation Sector 4. The jump will take quite some time, so the crew finally gets the chance to to relax for the first time in a long while.

Morgan stands just outside the lab. She hesitates for a moment before stepping inside. “H… I…”

“Yes, what is it?” H asks her.

“I want you to give me a cyber-eye,” Morgan tells him.

“Marvelous!” H exclaims, always happy to provide augmentations. “I shall begin preparations at once! Return in a few minutes and we shall begin!”

Morgan quickly leaves and fetches Shane, asking him to stand by just in case H tries anything funny. The pair returns to the lab to find H all ready to begin the procedure.

“Ready to begin?” H asks. “The procedure will not take long. You should be recovered by the time we arrive.”

“Just... get it over with,” Morgan tells him.

“I’ll be here to  make sure he doesn’t add any ‘extra’ augmentations,” Shane reassures her as she leans back onto the table. H injects her with anesthetics so that he can begin the procedure.

* * *

The _Dunsparce_ drops out of warp space in Sector 4 where the crew is greeted by the magnificent sight of a massive Federation dreadnought flying past. Almost immediately upon the arrival of the _Dunsparce_ , the gigantic vessel hails the comparatively puny bucket.

Arlon answers the call and is greeted by the site of a young looking Federation officer. "This is the _FNS Halberd_. State your business."

"We're here to collect a bounty," Arlon declares with the intent of turning Devlin Garth in for hijacking the gate at Sector 25.

"Um... Okay," the officer awkwardly responds. "Uh...  hold on. Let me transfer you to..." He trails off as he scrolls through his datapad. "According to the Remington Statute of 2973, Section 17-b, the current bounty officer on deck would be... me. Oh... Okay."

"First day on the job? Arlon asks jokingly.

"Yeah. Yeah... Please hold a moment. What is the bounty you will be collecting today?"

"Devlin Garth, perpetrator of the Sector 25 incident."

"Alright. If you can just bridge him over we can take it from here." The officer transmits over docking instructions, then hangs up the call.

Arlon flies the _Dunsparce_ into the port hangar of the _Halberd_ as instructed and sets the ship down. Once Arlon lowers the boarding ramp, the officer he talked with and several Federation marines board the ship. “We’re here to pick up the prisoner,” the officer tells him.

“This way,” Arlon replies, motioning for the Federation soldiers to follow him to cargo hold. The Marines move into the cargo hold and scoop Garth up off the floor.

"We can take it from here," the officer tells Arlon. "It will take some time to process the prisoner. You can wait here if you like. It could take up to eighteen hours."

“Hah, we all know that’s bullshit,” Arlon grumbles to his crewmates once the Federation soldiers are out of earshot.

“What do you mean?” Dmitri asks.

“The Federation is so bloated with bureaucracy that it could take several days for them to pay us,” Arlon explains.

“I think there are more pressing issues to worry about than getting paid,” Shane chimes in. “Before they leave, do you think we should ask them about the other reason that we’re here?”

“Good point, mate,” Arlon replies. “I’ll let them know.” Arlon quickly exits the room and flags down the officer as he steps off the _Dunsparce_.

“Is there something else I can help you with?” the officer asks.

"Listen, mate, the bounty isn't the only reason we're here," Arlon tells him.

"Oh?" the officer replies nervously.

"We have it on good authority something bad is going to happen at these coordinates."

"You should report any suspicious activity to the proper authorities and... and... and..."

"Look, mate, why don’t you go get your boss."

"Do I have to go get _her?_ " he asks very nervously.

" _Yes_."

“Oh… Well, okay then.” He briskly walks off and calls his commanding officer.

The rest of the crew begins to trickle off the _Dunsparce_ behind Arlon. As they move away from the ship, they catch the end of the officer’s conversation. "Yes Ma'am. I'll send them right away." He then hangs up and motions for the crew of the _Dunsparce_ to follow a pair of Federation marines. "Just follow the tram. You'll be fine."

The marines escort them to a tram which takes them on a twenty minute ride across the ship. The crew then spends another few minutes on an elevator ride up to the bridge. The Marines lead them to an office door. The name engraved on the door reads _Vice Admiral Alexandra Graves_.

The marines usher the crew into the room and shut the door behind them. A blond woman in formal uniform with pale skin, a stern face, and cold eyes looks up at them from her desk as they enter. "Yes, what is it?" she asks.

Arlon walks up to the desk and holds out a datapad containing the Genesect data and the information Mr. Silver provided them during their last meeting. "We have reliable information claiming something bad is going to happen at these very coordinates,” he tells the admiral.

“I see,” she replies. The takes the datapad and transfers the data off of it. She then reaches for the intercom. "I need you to analyze this data,” she orders whoever is on the other side.

"Right away ma'am,” a voice responds. “That will take about-”

"No. Now."

"Right away ma’am. Five minutes."

"Thank you."

She then turns back to the crew of the _Dunsparce_. "Who are you all again?" she asks.

"We're just space explorers," Arlon tells her. "And we've been to some weird places. We came across some pretty important information and thought we’d get it into the hands of the proper authorities."

"I see..."

"I don't suppose you happen to have a Poke Ball cannon lying around? H asks. The admiral looks over at him with a concerned expression on her face.

"Uh, he's kind of an... _odd_ fellow," Arlon tells her.

"Keep him behaved," she responds.

"He's not dangerous, just strange," Morgan explains.

The console suddenly beeps notifying Graves that the analysis is complete. She reads through the reports, then stands up and turns to look out the viewport. "This matter you've brought to my attention… Do you intend to see it all the way through?"

"Yes," Arlon tells her.

"We came didn't we?" Morgan adds.

Graves turns back to face the crew. "You did… And if this data is accurate, then they will too." She then reaches for the intercom once more, this time to address the entire ship. “All hands, battlestations,” she orders. “We are preparing to welcome a serious enemy threat. This is not a drill.” She then turns to the crew of the _Dunsparce_ once more. "If you truly intend to help, how do you plan to do so?"

“We can fight,” Arlon tells her. “And by the look of things, I’d say you need all the bloody help you can get.”

“What do you bring to the table?"

"Sector 25,” Arlon responds. "We saved your asses."

Graves brings up the report of the Sector 25 incident up on her monitor and scrolls through it. "That was against a rabble of unorganized pirates," she says.

"And yet they crippled two of your cruisers," Arlon points out.

"Have you read the specifications?" she asks, referring to the Genesect.

"Yes, we have," Arlon tells her.

"And you will fight that in your ship?"

"Well… a better one would be… well,  better, but we will if we have to," Shane tells her.

"You're braver than I thought," Graves responds. "Very well. I’ll put in a requisition order for anything that you require, within reason, and for our engineers to outfit your ship with any modifications we can spare.”

* * *

The crew returns to the port hangar and looks around to see what they can do about their ship. A stripped bucket class ship sits on the floor near the _Dunsparce_ and an impounded Alliance-make civilian frigate whose crew appears to be arguing with some Federation officers.

Arlon approaches the stripped bucket has a quick look around to determine if it has any useful parts. “There’s got to be something we can cannibalize in here,” Arlon says to his crewmates once they join him. “Take a look around and see what you can find.”

Searching through the ship, the crew finds weapons, power generators, and shield modulators that have been untouched. Arlon also notes that they can probably strip a lot of the armor plating off to augment the _Dunsparce_.

Once they determine what they want to salvage from the bucket, Shane flags down one of the engineers. "Hey you! Get some guys to outfit our ship with this stuff."

“Oi! Who the bloody hell are you to tell me-” Shane holds up the signed order from Graves, shutting the Engineer up real quick. “Right then,” the Engineer says. “You got it boss.” He then turns his attention to a group of idle engineers. "Oi! You lot! Get to work upgrading this ship with this scrap and any other weapons we got lying around.”

While the crew waits for the upgrades, Shane glances over at the Alliance frigate and decides to go talk to its crew to see if he can enlist their aid. As he approaches, he notes that they seem to be merchants of some sort that are stuck here for some reason. "There's going to be a battle here,” he tells the captain. “Are you willing to help us out?"

"A battle? You mean like a space battle?"

"Like a space battle."

"And you want us to fight?"

"I noticed weapons on your ship. I guess I assumed too much." Shane turns and walks away. He feels a bit annoyed at the loss of such a ship, but he realizes that it might not be a total loss after all. Upon returning to the _Dunsparce_ , Shane flags Arlon and Dmitri down. “I think I might know how we can get a better ship,” he tells him, pointing at the frigate. “C’mon, lets see if we can persuade them to part with it.”

“I like the way you think, mate,” Arlon tells him. He and Dmitri follow Shane back to the frigate and Arlon steps forward to speak with the captain. "Hello, mate. I think I might have a way for you to get out of here."

"I'm listening," the captain tells him.

"Well... what if we traded ships?" Shane asks. The captain looks at him with a concerned expression. “Our ship's not stuck here on lockdown,” Shane continues.

“If we trade, you can leave, and we can stay to fight the Romanov menace!" Dmitri encourages the caption.

"Aren't you... _from_... the Romanov Union?"

"I left for a reason."

"Look, mate,” Arlon tells the captain. “You can either take the deal and get out of here in one piece, or stay here and die in the battle."

"The smaller ship is a better option for an escape as it’s more maneuverable," Shane adds. "We can swap our ships but keep our equipment and cargo. We can also offer monetary compensation if you require it."

"You drive a hard bargain,” the captain responds. “I need to talk with my crew first."

He steps away to consult with his crew, but returns a short while later. "We'll take the deal,” he says. “But we would like to swap our warp registries as well. We have a clean record and would like to keep it that way."

"Sure thing, mate,” Arlon tells him. “I’ll go let the engineers know.”

Arlon walks off and flags down the head engineer, then explains the plan.

"Normally I wouldn't do this,” the engineer tells him. “But considering the circumstances, I’ll do it." He whistles at the engineers working on the _Dunsparce_ , then motions for them to move all the stuff from the _Dunsparce_ to the frigate. Some of the engineers start grumbling but they do as they’re told.

In the meantime, the crew collects their gear and personal effects from the _Dunsparce_ and move it all onto their new ship. Once the engineers strip down the _Dunsparce_ and attach the Alliance crew's upgrades, the ship flies away, the crew eager to get away.

The engineers then begin working double-time to get the new ship outfitted. It’s not long before they get the job done. "Everything's taken care of,” the head engineer tells the crew, wiping sweat from his brow. “However, there was a minor glitch when transferring the registry so you're just gonna have to rename the ship. So what’ll it be? The _UAS_ …?”

“How about _Helix_?” Dmitri suggests.

“Sure, mate," Arlon agrees. "Fuck it. It’s a hell of a lot better than _Dunsparce_.”

“Alright, then,” the engineer says as he enters the new name. “ _UAS Helix_ it is.” And not a moment too soon. Almost immediately after he confirms the name, the warning siren sounds throughout the _Halberd_.

It's time...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think this was the single longest session of Volume 1. I write all of these in Google Docs before I post them to any of the sites they're featured on, and this was the only one to reach 30 pages of the bunch. The ridiculous part is that every session in Volume 2 practically went this long. It all pales in comparison to the length of the final session of Volume 3.
> 
> In addition to the actual length, this chapter actually was very close to the actual session in terms of what happened. This far into the campaign I was pretty good at taking notes on the events of each session. It’s a good thing too because going back to rewrite this one sixth months later would've been a nightmare. There was a lot of important details to cover here.
> 
> After the Red Suns battle from last chapter, the rest of the session was all RP. I did add a little bit of an exchange between Arlon and Rena at the beginning of this chapter to help things flow a bit better between chapters and to just smooth the transition to Volume 2. I brought in a few details from Arlon’s story between volumes as a bit of foreshadowing and it worked quite nicely. The rest was mostly just polished.
> 
> Thus the UAS Helix is born! After so much time on the Dunsparce, we got a larger, much better ship. One that served us well for the rest of the volume and onwards! And now we are nearing the end of Volume 1. The final chapter awaits!


	19. Volume 1, Chapter 16: The Battle of Solace Prime

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The crew takes their new ship out for the first time to help Admiral Graves stop the Genesect attack led by a rogue faction of the Romanov Union.

The _UAS Helix_ flies out of the hanger, ready for combat. Her new crew is as prepared as they can be for the oncoming storm. Arlon maneuvers the frigate away from the massive _Halberd_ , turning to facing the new threat. A swarm of Genesect drops out of warp space surrounding a massive Romanov carrier. The frigate’s sensors detect that there are around two-hundred-twenty of the cybernetically enhanced insect Pokemon swarming around the carrier alone. The carrier’s hangar doors slide open and many more Genesect pour out and start flying at the _Halberd_. 

“That bloody ship must be crawling with them,” Arlon says to himself in awe.

The dreadnought begins flying towards the oncoming Geneset and opens fire. The Genesect, puny in size compared to the hulking _Halberd_ , are easily able to outmaneuver it and dodge the majority of the laser salvos. Arlon flies the _Helix_ towards the swarm, causing several Genesect to break off from the main group to engage the frigate.

"Man the guns!" Arlon shouts to the rest of the crew.

Dmitri runs to the plasma cannons while H takes control of the heavy plasma beam. Dmitri takes a few shots at the Genesect but the Pokemon easily dodge out of the way. H tracks a group of the swarming Genesect with the beam and fires in a wide arc, destroying three of them. A couple of the Genesect return fire but Arlon quickly takes the ship into a dive and avoids most of the shots, only allowing one to land a hit. The shields absorb the blast and the gunners continuing firing on the Genesect.

“Keep it up, mates!” Arlon shouts to his crewmates.

Dmitri opens fire once again but he misses. The Genesect are too easily able to dodge the cannon fire. However, the beam is a different story. H fires it across a large chunk of the swarm, managing to hit twelve, killing about half of them.

“Dmitri, keep them suppressed with the cannons!” Arlon shouts. “H, you’re our main fire power, that beam is chewing them to pieces!”

The _Halberd_ is not nearly as lucky as the _Helix_ , only landing a few glancing blows that only suffice to wound a handful of the swarming Genesect. The enemy Pokemon fire another salvo of shots at the _Helix,_ but Arlon rolls the ship, dodging all of the incoming shots.

“You’ll have to do better than that you bloody bastards,” Arlon says confidently.

The _Halberd_ continues to close in on the Romanov carrier, picking off a few Genesect along the way, but the dreadnought is taking on much more damage than it is dishing out. The Genesect swarm all over it, tearing its hull to pieces.

“We have to help them!” Morgan shouts to Arlon.

“I can try to draw some away, but there’s not much I can do,” Arlon tells her. He swings the ship by the _Halberd_ , allowing H and Dmitri to pick a few off.

In response, a group of Genesect detach from the _Halberd_ and  fly at the _Helix_. Dmitri fires at them with the plasma cannons but only manages to nick one of them and they continue closing in. Arlon dodges past most of their incoming fire, but one manages to land a blow and break through the temporarily disrupted shields. The crew of the _Helix_ hear a loud clank as it latches on the hull of the ship and starts trying to scrape through.

"It's trying to break through into the cargo bay!" Arlon yells to his crewmates. “Morgan, Shane, get down there! Dmitri go with them, you’re not doing anything on those cannons!” He then reaches for a Pokeball and releases his Quilava. “Cinder, go with them!”

“You too #1!” H shouts, releasing his Rhyhorn.

* * *

Shane, Morgan, and Dmitri head down to the lower cargo bay in the elevator accompanied by their crewmates’ Pokemon. As they arrive in the cargo bay, the Genesect busts through the hull and magnetizes itself to the floor as the vacuum of space begins to suck the air out of the cargo bay. The blast doors seal shut in response.

Shane sends out his Rotom, Morgan her Solrock, and Dmitri his Slugma. Up close, the Genesect looks like a merciless killing machine. Its eyes flash as it scans the room and assesses the threat levels. Dmitri seizes the moment and throws a string shot canister at the hole in the ship. It explodes, releasing a giant wad of string shot which seals it up enough to prevent anything from flying out but the _Helix_ continues to slowly leak atmosphere.

The Genesect locks onto Dmitri’s Slugma and fires its cannons at the small lava slug. The Slugma is surprisingly resistant to the attack, but he still takes a heavy hit. In response, Cinder, Arlon’s Quilava, runs forward and spits a massive tide of flames at the Genesect, melting through its armor and inflicting tons of damage upon the metallic creature’s innards.

“B.O.L.T., use Thunder Wave!” Shane commands his Rotom. The electrical ghost fires a wave of electricity at the wounded Genesect, causing it to seize up.

“Now hit it with Psywave!” Morgan commands her Solrock. The Pokemon fires off a blast of psychic energy but the Genesect dodges out of the way.

“Obsidius, Flame Burst!” Dmitri instructs his Slugma. The fiery Pokemon spits out a burst of flames at the Genesect and whittles it down further. #1, H’s Rhyhorn, runs up next and launches a giant rock at the Genesect, but it dodges out of the way and the boulder crashes into some crates, completely destroying them.

The entire ship rocks as it is hit with a volley of fire from the swarming Genesect which downs the shields, allowing several shots to hit the hull. Undaunted from the violent shaking, Cinder spits out another lick of flames at the Genesect, burning through more of its armor.

The Genesect stands upright and its eyes flash. It seems to be sending out some kind of signal. It then locks on to #1 and fires off a beam of ice. The Rhyhorn withstands the blow but it seems to be pretty badly hurt.

“B.O.L.T., use Shock Wave!”

“Camille, use Fire Spin!’

“Obsidius, Flame Burst!”

The crew commands their Pokemon to strike, unleashing a torrent of fire and electricity at the Genesect, bringing the cybernetic Pokemon down. Its eyes begin to flash more rapidly.

“I think it’s sending out some kind of signal,” Shane says. “I’m not sure what it means, though.”

There are two more loud metal clanks on the hull as another pair of Genesect land on the ship and start clawing through the string shot covered hole. They easily tear through and crawl inside.

“We need to get out of here!” Morgan shouts. She and Dmitri recall their Pokemon and then begin falling back with Shane and his Rotom right behind them. Unsure of what to do, Cinder and Rhyhorn follow along.

The crew splits up and exits into the hallway through doorways on opposite ends of the cargo bay. Dmitri, Cinder, and #1  escape through the starboard-side door while Shane, Morgan, and B.O.L.T. get out through the port-side door. Once safely on the other side, Morgan releases her Espeon. #1, who is is pretty bad shape, continue to retreat back to H on the upper deck of the ship, leaving Dmitri alone with Arlon’s Quilava. Dmitri quickly sends out his Haunter to back him up. The two Genesect split up and each pursue their retreating targets out different doors, following the strategy of divide and conquer.

On the port side, the Genesect fires a powerful beam at Morgan’s Espeon, knocking her out instantly. The Genesect on the starboard side fires its cannon at Wilhelm, a bright blast of energy hits the Haunter and deals some damage to him. Cinder quickly steps in and spits out a massive surge of flames, completely engulfing the corridor. Streaks of flame shoot down the narrow passage, setting the entire place on fire. The Gensect's eyes glow a menacing red through the flames.

“Wilhelm, Shadow Punch!” Dmitri command his Pokemon. The Haunter charges through the flames with his fist raised, but when he makes contact, he simply bounces off of it. The mechanical monster stares at the Pokemon menacingly.

Back on the port side, the Genesect continues to close in. “B.O.LT., use Thunder Wave!” Shane commands his Rotom. The Pokemon shoots out a burst of electricity at the Genesect, causing it to seize up, slowing its advance. Morgan uses the opportunity to recall her fainted Espeon and release her Pikachu. Shane then vanishes from sight, preparing for a powerful strike.

On the starboard side, Dmitri lifts his hand and fires off a blast of energy at the Genesect, sending it into a state of confusion. However, it fights through and locks onto Wilhelm. It's cannon glows red and fires a massive blast of energy, taking the Haunter down. The explosion gives the hall the appearance of a fiery hell, the flames reflecting in the Genesect's fierce red eyes. Dmitri recalls his Haunter and sends his Slugma back out. Cinder charges at the advancing Pokemon, rolling herself into a tight ball of fire and bashing against the cybernetic being.

“Jean, use Volt Tackle!” Morgan commands her Pikachu back on the port side. The electric mouse charges itself up with volts of electricity as he runs forward. He leaps into the air and slams full force into the Genesect. The critical blow leaves the cybernetic Pokemon sparking and immobilized.

Shane then reappears behind the beast and jumps up on its back. He sees a blue drive on the Pokemon's back and thinks it looks important. He phases his hand in and rips the thing right out of the Genesect's back.  The Pokemon's eyes start flashing rapidly. It seems like some sort of distress signal, like it has lost its connection with the command signal it was receiving. Dmitri, slowly being pushed back by the other Genesect, runs across the hall and throws a great ball at the damaged one, hoping to catch it. The ball pulls the cybernetic Pokemon inside, but it quickly breaks out again.

Rounding the corner on the starboard side, the other Genesect charges up its cannon and fires a massive blast of electricity at Cinder. In the narrow quarters the Quilava is unable to get out of the way of the blast and takes the hit dead on. The powerful blow knocks the Pokemon out instantly.

Suddenly, #6, H’s Helioptile, runs into the room with a giant gust of silvery wind. The wind gushes down the hallway, hitting both Genesect and putting out the fires, leaving only smoke and embers. Both Genesect’s  eyes start flashing, evaluating the new threat.

“B.O.L.T., use Shock Wave!” Shane commands his Rotom, seizing the opportunity to get another hit off on the Genesect. The electric ghost fires off another burst of electricity, further whittling the heavily damaged Genesect. The cybernetic Pokemon ignores B.O.L.T. and fires a powerful beam at Jean, determining the Pikachu to be a larger threat. However, the quick electric mouse easily dodges out of the way. The beam travels down the hall, then bounces off the wall right back into the Genesect, scrambling its command signal.

Shane, now behind the advancing Genesect, runs through the cargo bay to get behind the Genesect on the Starboard side. He pulls out his recently purchased incendiary cannon and fires it at the Pokemon's back. The massive explosion sets the hall on fire once again, as well as the Genesect. It continues to press on, charging up its cannon again to fire at Dmitri’s Slugma. It unleashes a powerful blast which takes the Pokemon down. It lets out a high pitched mechanical sound that echoes throughout the ship.

“Jean, use Electro Ball!” Morgan commands her Pokemon. The Pikachu jumps up and launches a ball of electricity at the heavily damaged Genesect, which starts to spark and wobble. The wounded cybernetic insect fires a beam of ice at B.O.L.T., landing a direct hit. The Rotom, however, manages to stay up. Not wanting to take any chances, Shane recalls the Pokemon and sends out his Klefki.

Dmitri also switches out his Pokemon, releasing his newly evolved Gyarados, hoping to use its size to block the Genesect’s progress. However, the Genesect does not seem to care, launching a blast of lightning out of its cannon and taking the Gyarados down with one shot. It then collapses, taken down by the fires burning it alive.

“Jean, use Volt Tackle!” Morgan commands her Pikachu. “Take it down!” The small yellow Pokemon runs at the sole remaining Genesect and charges himself up again. He leaps at the cybernetic Pokemon and slams into it, taking it offline.

“What’s the situation down there?” Arlon’s voice sounds over the comms.

“All clear down here,” Shane replies, running over to a nearby intercom.

“Great job, mates, now get up here. We’ve got an opening on that carrier and I intend to take it.”

“Before we go, I just want to check out these Genesect real quick,” Shane says to his crewmates. He approaches one of the damaged Genesect and boots himself into its CPU. Upon entering, he can sense the command ship and traces the signal to find where it is going into the brain. He tampers with a blinking orange… _thing_ , but that only seems to deactivate the signal being sent to the carrier. The signal continues to broadcast on other channels, as if connected to something else. However, he can’t seem to figure out what. Unable to do anything else, Shane boots himself out.

"What happened?" Morgan asks him.

"I think I cut off communication with the carrier but it's still transmitting elsewhere," he explains.

“We should just kill them then,” Morgan says. “Just to be safe.”

“Good idea,” Shane agrees.

“Dmitri, use your laser sword to take them out,” Morgan tells her crewmate.

“We should try to repair them and use them for ourselves,” Dmitri protests.

“I don’t think it works that way, Dmitri,” Shane tells him. “They’re completely controlled by command signals. If we repair them they will more than likely attack us.”

“Fine,” Dmitri agrees. He pulls out his laser sword and uses it to finish off the Genesect. He then quickly follows his crewmates back up to the bridge.

* * *

“Here we go!” Arlon shouts as he flies the _Helix_ at the Romanov carrier. “Tear them up!” H and Dmitri open fire with the guns, punching a hole through the remaining Genesect. Arlon cranks the engines to max and  pushes through the opening, straight into the carrier’s open hangar.

As soon as Arlon lands the ship, a large group of Romanov soldiers surrounds the _Helix_. Dmitri fires the plasma cannons at them, killing them and blowing a hole straight through the wall. “Nice work, mate,” Arlon tells him, patting him on the shoulder as he walks past.

The crew disembarks from the Helix and takes a look around. Shane peers into the hole Dmitri blasted in the wall and spots what appears to be the main elevator shaft. “This way!” he shouts to his crewmates, waving them over.

“Excellent, this should take us right up to  the bridge,” Aron says. He jumps down into the shaft, landing on top of the stationary elevator. He then looks up and motions for the crew to follow. Once they join him, he reaches down and pries open the hatch so they can board the elevator.

The crew rides up to the bridge uninterrupted. Silence fills the air as they approach the elevator grinds to a halt. They step out of the elevator onto the bridge. An admiral in formal naval uniform with a full but trimmed beard and a pipe in his mouth stares them down as they approach. He has a crazed, villainous look in his eyes. 

"How dare you defile the sanctity of my bridge!” the admiral shouts at the boarders. “You are a blemish on this glorious day!" Three Romanov marines move up behind him. They all seem ready for a fight. The admiral pulls out a Pokeball and releases a Clawitzer, while the marines send out a Beartic and a pair of Magnemites.

“If it’s a fight you want, mate, we’d be happy to oblige,” Arlon says as he pulls out a Pokeball and releases his Aron. The others follow suit and send out Rhyhorn, Gyarados, Klefki, and Croconaw.

“Ness, Flamethrower!” Dmitri commands his Gyarados. The giant serpent unleashes a surge of flames on the Beartic, dealing quite a bit of damage.  
“K.E.Y.S., use Fairy wind!” Shane commands his Klefki. The Pokemon summons up a blast of wind which strikes the Beartic, whittling it down even more

“Hector, use Waterfall!” Morgan commands her Croconaw, pointing at one of the Magnemites. Her Pokemon runs forward and attempts to strike the Magnemite but it floats out of harms way.

“Use Supersonic!” the two marines command their Magnemites. The pair of Magnemites fire off blasts of sound at Hector and Ness, sending Morgan’s Croconaw into a state of confusion.

“Water Pulse!” the admiral commands his Clawitzer. The Pokemon locks onto #1 and fires off a blast of water, taking the Rhyhorn down instantly.

“Use Earthquake!” the last marine commands his Beartic. The ice bear Pokemon charges into the middle of the attacking Pokemon and crashes its powerful paws down, causing the floor to shake. Floor tiles fly up and strike Hector and Ironhide. Both Pokemon withstand the hit and prepare to fight back.

“Ironhide, use Iron Head!” Arlon commands his Aron. “Take ‘em down!” The Aron charges forward at the beartic, skull plate glowing bright. Ironhide collides hard with the Beartic, knocking it out. The glow intensifies as he strikes and he begins to change shape, evolving into Lairon.

H's eyes start glowing yellow as he reaches his hand into the air. Thunder and lightning blast out from the consoles and strike his hand, a giant bolt appearing there. He lobs it at the Clawitzer, leaving it smoking and clinging to consciousness. He then quickly grabs a Pokeball and throws out his Helioptile.

"Sir, something is wrong with console!" one of the deck officers calls out. The admiral makes an angry growling sound.

“#6, use Thundershock!” H commands his Pokemon. The Helioptile shoots out a small burst of electricity at the Clawitzer, finishing it off.

“Hector, use Ice Fang!” Morgan commands her Croconaw. The Pokemon’s fangs freeze over as he charges at one of the Magnemites. He sinks them in and coats the Pokemon over with ice. The frozen Magnemite drops to the floor. H then pulls out his Pokeball Ball cannon and launches a magma grenade at the remaining Magnemite, taking it down. Defeated, the marines recall their Pokemon.

"Nyet! Nyet! Nyet!" The admiral yells as he runs toward the console. "You think you've won don't you!?"

"Yes!" Morgan shouts back.

"The Genesect will swarm you all!" He yells as he slams his fist on the big red button with a look of insane satisfaction. Nothing happens. No Genesect are coming. He starts mashing the button, "What's going on!?"

"I don't know sir! Is not responding!"

The blinking orange light on the console begins to slow, then goes out. Looking out the viewport, those on the bridge can see Genesect turning away. They fly to the gate and jump away into warp space.

"Where are you going!?” the admiral shouts after them “Come back!" The command crew stand around awkwardly, looking at their admiral as he loses his mind.

“You’re coming with us, admiral,” Arlon tells him, pressing his pistol against the admiral’s head. He then looks over at his crewmates. “Round them up,” he tells them. The others begin reining in the remaining command crew. Realizing they’ve lost, they surrender without so much as a struggle.

Using the carrier’s console, Arlon hails the _Halberd_. The call is quickly answered, and Vice Admiral Graves appears onscreen. A very surprised expression appears on her face when she sees the _Helix_ crew. “We’ve captured the command crew,” Arlon tells her.

“I’m impressed,” she says, a look of genuine awe on her face. "I noticed your ship boarded the carrier, but I did not expect you to have captured the bridge on your own, and so quickly no less. The Genesect appear to have retreated. Return to the _Halberd_. We will repair any damage and discuss rewards."

* * *

“It is with great honor that I present you with the Federation Medal of Civilian Valor, given only to those citizens of the Federation who go far above and beyond what is expected of them,” Graves says as she pins medals onto the crew of the _UAS Helix_. “You will also be paid handsomely for your efforts. But, now that this is all over, I’m curious: what are you planning to do next?"

"This battle was just the beginning,” Arlon tells her. "There are greater powers at work here and I intend to find them."

"There are hints of something larger here," Morgan agrees. "We need to be prepared."

"Interesting," says Graves. “I wish you well on your journeys. I suspect I will be hearing from you again.”

* * *

Back aboard the _Helix_ , Arlon flies the ship away from the _Halberd_ , then jumps into warp space, on course for Banton. He then gets up from his seat and calls the rest of the crew to the bridge. "Well mates, I think it's time we said our goodbyes," Arlon announces to his companions once they arrive. "With my name cleared, I feel it is best that I return to the Red Suns."

"Well, this _is_ what you wanted isn't it?" Morgan asks, wondering why Arlon seems to be getting sentimental.

“It is, luv,” Arlon tells her. “But that doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate the time I’ve spent with you lot. I may be a right prick sometimes, but you’re alright. I don’t make this decision lightly. We need to be prepared for whatever's coming next. I can use the Red Suns' resources to better further that goal. You’re all quite resourceful, so I'll be sure to send anything I find your way."

“Well, it’s been a good run,” Shane tells him, extending his hand.

“Indeed it has, mate,” Arlon says, grabbing hold and giving a firm handshake. “Indeed it has.”

* * *

The meditation sphere approaches the silver-lined cruiser. Gilgamesh wonders if he has done the right thing.

He boards, walking through the familiar hallways to the small office, to find that same screen gazing back at him.

"I'd like to formally thank you for your aid in finding the Resurrector," Mr. Silver tells him. "It's been instrumental in the success of the project. In fact, I've already received reports of engagement in Sector 4."

"And just what exactly do you plan to do with them?"

"They are a test."

"For what?"

An eerie silence falls on the room before the mime responds.

"I called you here to fulfill my end of the bargain. I thought you might wish to know that the Gardener has been found."

A look of awe dawns on Gilgamesh's face. "So then… that means-?"

"Yes. They are coming."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This session was a great way to end things. We got our first real taste of space combat and got to fight the Genesect at long last! Lots of interesting stuff. The battle was based around the fact that in this universe there is no concept of a fighter, a small class of ships like X-Wings or TIE-Fighters. The Genesect have taken the role of fighters and challenged the way naval commanders think about warfare. So that’s why the Halberd got chewed to pieces.
> 
> We got a good taste for what's coming next semester with that epilogue that the GM prepared for us. Gilgamesh was working with Mr. Silver? Mr. Silver was behind the Genesect? Who the hell is this guy anyway? And most importantly, who the hell are "they?" These are all the important questions we were asking ourselves at the end of this volume. In terms of revision, this was the easiest chapter to rewrite. I had reached the peak of my writing for Volume 1 and was getting good at squeezing in as much detail from my notes as possible. I just had to give it that extra bit of polish to get it up to par with Volume 2.
> 
> Looking back now, I seem to have added a bit of much needed character development for Arlon in these last few chapters. I was never really satisfied with Arlon as a character the first go-round, so I’m glad to have finally done him justice. Over the course of the volume, we’ve seen him change from a guy only in it for the money, to a man who truly cares for the future of the Galaxy. It’s a great way to end his story as a player character and having him go on to be an awesome side character for Volume 2. I truly felt that I fulfilled his story this time around, and I was looking forward to doing the same for my new character.


	20. Tempore Ex Machina, Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Psychic type Gym Leader Gilgamesh teams up with veteran smuggler Aarn Hondo in hopes of undoing a terrible mistake.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This piece was written by Spacemon's GM, but I have uploaded it here with his permission. It takes place shortly after the events of Volume 1, Chapter 16, and was written to fill in some of the gaps in the main story and set up for the final volume. It's the first part of a three part mini-series and I've inserted this part here in the Spacemon series as a whole since this is where it falls in the timeline. It was written just before the third volume started, but this is the right place to put it.

At least a dozen vessels waited ahead of the _UAS Amber_ in shiplock; this was taking far too long, especially for an Outer Rim Gate. Of course, this did not come as a surprise to Aarn Hondo, who simply leaned back, petting his anxious Skarmory.

A smuggler by trade, Hondo knew the extra security brought in as a response to the unprecedented hacking of the Sector 25 Warp Gate two weeks ago would be trouble. But to a veteran smuggler, trouble meant _opportunity_. And so Hondo had come with his colorful cargo.

But this was taking too long. The Skarmory cawed in agitation as Hondo grumbled to himself. He didn’t anticipate the Romanovs breaking off and declaring war on the rest of the Galactic Federation. It was obvious, of course, to anyone with an ear to the ground that tensions were rising, that conflict was inevitable… but the Romanov Supremacy had clearly acquired an advantage that allowed them to strike so soon. And so nearly every sector worth jumping to had been blockaded. Hondo wasn’t particularly concerned, however: _war **also** meant opportunity_.

But he was increasingly coming to believe that this particular job wasn’t worth it. The added delays had already cost him two days, and the client was known to be a rude and impatient man. The boys down below deck were of a similar mind.

“Hey, Boss! Whaddaya say we tell ‘im to sod off, and open these spice crates up for ourselves?” asked the voice through the ship’s internal comms. Normally Hondo would have tried to run his ship a little tighter, but today he was just tired. “Sure… a round of spice for everyone, if we can find a new client that’s actually _worth_ all this waiting around… send out a comm ping, usual channels,” came his reply.

The second ship to respond to the hail was a small ship of Sinai make; unusual in these parts, but not unheard of. Hondo granted them docking clearance, then walked down to the loading bay to greet the potential client. He frowned as the blast doors opened; the first ship had been an exquisite luxury cruiser belonging to a Genevan official. That man smelled like money, and his accent suggested he was from one of the moons of Gaia, likely München, but he had left without striking a bargain.

This new vessel’s interior, in contrast, was incredibly small, perhaps a single room if that were even possible. Inside stood a single man, aged and garbed in very simple robes. Hondo saw very few possessions of note or value. “Greetings,” said the man. “My name is Gilgamesh.”

* * *

“So let me get this straight …”

Gilgamesh had explained the details to this man three times, but some souls were naturally skeptical and inquisitive.  He leaned back in his seat, declining the generous offers of refreshment from the crew.

“You are looking for a _legendary_ artifact of ancient power,” continued the smuggler captain curiously.  “And you can _confirm_ that it exists?”

“Yes,” answered the monk.  “I was the one to originally find its location, and I shared it with another.  A decision I am coming to regret.”

“And you say this location is deep within Romanov space.  Who has just declared war!  This 'expedition' of yours is going to be very expensive... “ Hondo trailed off, eyeing the austere man before him.  “I sincerely hope you have some way of _paying_ for all this.”

“Ah, looks can be deceiving, I’m afraid,” repled Gilgamesh, “For you see, I am a Gym Leader of the Outer Rim.  The Federation distributes credits to me annually.  And as you have seen, I myself have little use for personal belongings.  In the past I’ve donated the majority of my funding to the Congregate, but as of late …”

“You find yourself with far too many credits on your hands.  Perhaps we could help you out with them?  Haha!”  The smuggler captain seemed much more jovial now.  “Very well!  Tell me _more_ about this… _treasure hunt!_  What can we expect?”

“This…” Gilgamesh pondered for a moment on Hondo’s phrasing.  “...treasure appears in many legends and textual accounts.  The man with whom I shared it referred to it as a ‘resurrector,’ but in truth it is attributed with many other properties as well.  Beyond that, I know not as much as I would like.”

“ _Fascinating_.  You really must sit down later and tell me more about thi--”

“Boss!  We ‘ave another hail.  Feds this time,” interrupted the intercomm.  “ _Damn!_ ” cried Hondo.  “Well I suppose it can’t be helped.  Let them board.”

* * *

The Federation heavy cruiser lumbered into place to align its docking tube with the Amber’s remaining open airlock, on the other side of the ship.  As Hondo rose to go meet the officers, he heard a round of cheers echo from below deck.  It took about six steps to sink in: “ _Idiots!_ ” he growled to himself.  They had opened the spice crates _in the middle of a Federation inspection!_  Hondo’s pace broke into a run.  Spice had a very strong odor: once unsealed there was no point trying to hide it.  The veteran smuggler knew his best chance was to catch the officers by surprise and ambush them now.  Simply waiting for them to discover the illicit goods was an amateur mistake, one Hondo wasn’t particularly keen on making today now that he had a _real_ job to get to.

It had been a long day, and so Hondo knew the Federation officers would be tired, having searched maybe a dozen ships prior to this one.  All of this had been just routine for them.  So in the time it took for them to snap to alertness, Hondo was able to leap out of the hallway, fire two full volleys out of his blaster, and order his Skarmory to fly in. “Use Steel Wing!” he commanded his Pokemon. The armored bird rushed forward with its wings spread, taking half of the men down as it passed them.  The remaining guards sent out their Pokemon: a Lunatone and a Mightyena.

“Lunatone, use Psywave!” one of the men commanded. The meteorite Pokemon unleashed a wave of psychic energy which pulsed into the Skarmory, bypassing the Pokemon’s armor and delivering a pretty strong blow.

“Mightyena, use Crunch!” the other Federation soldier commanded his Pokemon. The Mightyena ran up  the steel bird, in an attempt to bite it. However the Skarmory managed to fly out of range.

“Now, use Slash!” Hondo commanded his Skarmory. The Pokemon flew back toward the Mightyena and returned with a critical blow, taking the wolf Pokemon down. Hondo then followed up with another shot from his pistol, knocking the Pokemon’s trainer to the ground.

“Use Cosmic Power!” the remaining Federation soldier commanded his Lunatone. The Pokemon began to store its energies up, building up a its psychic wards.

“Use Steel Wing!” Hondo commanded his Skarmory. The steel bird rushed in with its razor-sharp wings and delivered a powerful blow against the Lunatone.

All of a sudden, as Hondo raised his laser pistol to fire again, a Malamar floated into the room radiating a strange, hypnotic light.  Within 15 seconds, the Federation combatants had all fallen asleep.  Hondo turned to face this mysterious new Pokemon, and saw Gilgamesh step out from behind it.  “There will be no further need for violence,” he calmly stated.

Hondo felt a note of worry at the prospect of his new client witnessing such _unpleasantries_ with the authorities, but figured upon second thought that if this Gilgamesh was in fact uncomfortable with this sort of business, then he probably wouldn’t have come to him in the first place.

Either way, Gilgamesh showed no sign of emotion.  He simply nodded to the floating squid Pokemon, and it moved above the lying officers and emitted another glow.  “They will remember none of this,” his spoke with a completely even tone.

“Aha!  You, my friend, are _very_ helpful!” Hondo exclaimed.  “Certainly more helpful than half _this_ lot…”  He pointed back towards the corridor, towards the clamoring footsteps of the crew.

“Boss!  We heard a fight!  You want us to finish ‘em off, then?” asked one of them, his fingertips still deep red from the spice.

“Shut up.”

* * *

Aboard the _GCS Drifzepeli_ , Councilor Robert Heinkel leaned back in his luxurious office chair and opened his terminal.  Boarding ahead of that Sinai sphere had been simple enough; his evident wealth had seen to that.  And Heinkel had been able to successfully plant the listening device without detection.  And now he had what he needed.  The terminal screen flashed briefly, as he received confirmation from Mr. Silver.

**“ >Data received.  Funds have been transferred to the usual account.”**

Heinkel smiled, then paused for a moment.  “You should be aware, the monk knew about the location of our… facility.”  Almost immediately the screen flashed again.

**“ >That is not surprising.  I will be deployed onsite.”**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It was cool to see both Gilgamesh and Aarn Hondo get some more "screen time." Both are pretty interesting characters and the GM really highlighted their differing personalities. You may also note that this one was written in past tense. The GM was adamant that he couldn't write in the present tense to match the style of the rest of Spacemon, and in the process set a precedent that entries in the series could be posted in different styles. Since this didn't come from a session of the campaign and I didn't write it, I really don't have much else to say about it. The GM isn't really into detailing his writing process like I am.


	21. Seeing Red, Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arlon Jett reorganizes the Red Suns into a mercenary organization dedicated to unraveling the enigma that is Mr. Silver.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And just like that, we have started another mini-series. This series was written concurrently with Volume 3, but the various parts of Seeing Red take place across the events of the campaign, starting after the end of Volume 1. It falls into the timeline just after the first part of Tempore Ex Machina, so that's where it has been placed. As with Tempore Ex Machina, this was written in past tense instead of present tense in order to differentiate it a bit from the main series. I kind of wanted to try writing in a different style to mix things up a bit for myself as well.

“Detonate on my mark.” Arlon Jett stood with his back against the wall alongside his compatriots as they prepared to breach the door. Kiril Zhukov nodded at his Genevan comrade.

“Three.”

“Two.”

“One.”

“ _Breach!_ ”

The Romanov explosives expert flipped the switch, causing the tactically placed charges to detonate.

“Ironhide, you’re up! Arlon commanded his Pokemon. The Aggron charged forward at the door. In its weakened state, the door was quickly flattened by the large Pokemon.

“Sleva, Prava, time to explode,” Kiril commanded his pair of Electrodes. The two Ball Pokemon rolled into the room, then split, rolling to opposite sides of the room. Before any of the pirates inside knew what was happening, both Pokemon exploded, scattering debris and wounded men across the room.

Arlon and his three Red Suns compatriots moved into the room, firing their weapons at any pirates left standing. Most of them managed to dive for cover, but some of them weren’t so lucky. 

“Don’t just stand there!” Edgard Reinert, the pirate captain shouted to his men. “Shoot them!”

The pirates jumped into action and greeted the Red Suns with a flurry of laser fire. Arlon dove behind Ironhide, whose armor could withstand the punishment. “Alright, mate, let’s rush that table!” he shouted to his Pokemon as he hopped up onto the Aggron’s back. Ironhide charged forward full speed at a group of pirates hiding behind an upturned table, crushing them against the far wall.

“Useless! The lot of you!” Reinert yelled at his men. “What do I pay you for?!” He reached for a pair of Pokeballs and threw out a Toxicroak and an Arcanine. The four other pirates left standing encircled the Red Suns in the center of the room and sent out their own Pokemon: A Magneton, a Golbat, a Rampardos, and a Druddigon.

“It seems your pathetic little assault has failed,” the pirate captain taunted.

“Are you kidding, mate?” Arlon asked him. “This is where the fun begins! Ironhide, use Iron Head!” The Genevan mercenary’s Aggron lowered his head, and charged full speed at the Rampardos and pierced its rocky hide with his long horns, dealing a nasty blow. The Rampardos retaliated against the Aggron pinning it to the wall by bashing its plated skull against the metallic Pokemon, denting his armor.

The remaining Red Suns seized the moment to release their own Pokemon. Rena Bourdeaux, the team’s sniper, sent out her Alakazam; Luke Anderson, the most recent member of the team, sent out his Feraligatr; and Kiril sent out his Gengar.

The pirates shouted orders to their Pokemon and they descended upon the Red Suns and their Pokemon. The Golbat swooped down at Rena’s Alakazam, but the psychic Pokemon telekinetically shifted himself out of harm’s way. “Sorcier, use Psychic!” the Parisian sniper commanded her Pokemon. The Alakazam let out a powerful blast of energy at the Golbat, sending it flying back into the wall, fainted.

Reinert’s Toxicroak ran up behind Ironhide and landed a powerful punch. Thinking quickly, Rena, a latent psionic, conjured up a defensive barrier to soften the blow, allowing Arlon’s Pokemon to stay in the fight. Arlon nodded at her, then fired off another flurry of laser blasts at the pirates, taking a couple of them down.

Reinert's other pokemon, the Arcanine, charged for Sorcier with its fiery fangs. Just before the Arcanine landed its attack, the Alakazam teleported behind it revealing Luke’s waiting Feraligatr. “Sobek, use Aqua Tail!” the heavily muscled Alliance mercenary commanded him. The large reptilian Pokemon spun around and whacked the Arcanine directly in the face with his powerful tail, taking it down in one hit.

“Thunderbolt!” one of the pirates shouted. The Magneton discharged off a surge of electricity at Sobek, severely injuring the Feraligatr. A tenacious fighter, the Pokemon managed to stay standing, but sparks were still running along his body, making it hard to move.

“Prizrak, Focus Blast!” Kiril ordered his Gengar. The ghostly Pokemon unleashed a massive blast of energy at the Magneton, knocking it right into the Romanov’s line of fire. Kiril hefted up his flamethrower and released a rush of flames at the Magnet Pokemon, taking it down.

Then, the Druddigon charged into the middle of the fray, and took a nasty bite out of Prizrak with its powerful jaws. “Time to return the favor, Zhukov!” Luke shouted to Kiril. “Sobek, Ice Fang!” The injured Feraligatr fought through the pain and lunged at the Druddigon. The Pokemon’s fangs froze over as he opened his jaws. He clamped them tightly around the Druddigon neck, and took it out. The two collapsed together, both down for the count. Luke followed up his Pokemon’s attack by firing off a few bursts from his laser rifle, taking out the remaining pirates.

“Ironhide, use Iron Tail!” Arlon commanded his Aggron. “Take that Rampardos out!” The Iron Armor Pokemon lifted his massive tail and slammed it into the Rampardos, taking it out of the picture.

Now, Reinert and his Toxicroak were all that remained. “Things don’t seem to be going your way, mate,” Arlon taunted him as he aimed his pistol right between the pirates eyes. “You might as well surrender.”

“I’ll never surrender to you!” Reinert spat back. “Use Poison Jab!” The pirate’s Toxicroak lept right at Arlon, but stopped mid-air, held up by the powerful psychic power of Rena’s Alakazam. Sorcier launched the Toxicroak back into the wall, taking it out with ease.

Reinert quickly raised his pistol to shoot, but Arlon was faster. The Genevan mercenary shot the gun right out of the pirate’s hand. “Your claim to the Red Suns is at an end,” Arlon declared. He raised his pistol once more, and pulled the trigger.

* * *

“You cannot be serious,” Arlon said in disbelief.

“Why wouldn’t we be?” Rena asked him. “Over ze past month you ‘ave turned things around for us.” She places her hand on Arlon’s shoulder. “What you ‘ave done… It is simply incredible.”

“It would be great honor to keep fighting under your command,” Kiril added, slapping him hard on the back.

“So whaddaya say, boss?” Luke asked him.

Arlon glanced around the room at his companions. With his name cleared, Arlon had been able to patch up his relationship with Rena and Kiril. Rena was the one who asked him to return in the first place, but Kiril had been a bit more difficult.

The Romanov had been quite upset with Arlon for allowing his _Helix_ crewmates to Wonder Trade his Pokemon away. Before they could even begin dismantling Garth’s pirate empire, Arlon had to divert a significant amount of resources to hack into the Wonder Trade network and track down Kiril’s Pokemon. Arlon had to buy the man several more drinks after that in order for him to even consider working together again.

And then there was Luke Anderson. Arlon turned his gaze to the large, dark skinned Alliance merc. Garth had hired him after the job on Parisia to fill the vacancies left by Arlon and Lars. At first, Arlon had some doubts about the man’s loyalties, but, over the past month, Luke had proven himself to be a very capable fighter and loyal to the goal of restoring the Red Suns.

Together, the four of them had spent the past month dealing with the power vacuum that Garth left behind. All the pirate factions that he had brought in were vying for control of the whole organization. One by one, Arlon and his compatriots had taken down the pirate leaders. Reinert had been the last, and with him out of the picture, the Red Suns had asked Arlon to lead them.

“Very well,” Arlon finally said. “I would be honored to lead the Red Suns and I am grateful that you have welcomed me back. However, we’re not going back to being bounty hunters. My time away has shown me that there are greater forces at work in the Galaxy. I want to drag them into the light, and I am asking you to join me in this mission. Are you with me?”

Rena was the first to speak up. “I’m with you,” she said firmly.

“So am I,” Kiril followed shortly.

“Count me in, too,” said Luke, throwing his hat in as well.

Arlon looked each of his companions in the eye and saw the same determination burning there. A slight grin appeared on his face. “Fantastic. I knew I could count on you. Since my return, you have been key to rebuilding the Red Suns, and I would like you to continue to do so by serving as my lieutenants. All the men we’ve recruited from our defeated enemies... all the men we’ll need to pull this off… I can’t lead them on my own.”

“It would be our pleasure.” A large grin flashed across Kiril’s face as he spoke.

“Back in the day, there were only five Red Suns,” Arlon continued. “With all the men now under our command, it seems fitting that there be five of us now.”

“Uh, boss, there’s only four of us here,” Luke pointed out.

“Exactly,” Arlon replied. “We’re short one, and I know just the woman for the job.”

* * *

Smog hung heavy in the air as Petra Azarov pursued her target across the rooftops of the Harmonia slums. Having grown up on Xiaou, the Romanov bounty hunter didn’t mind. The slums of this Alliance world were nothing compared to her home planet.

The countless neon billboards and signs flew past as Petra closed the distance on Alliance thief she’d be contracted to capture. The young woman had proven elusive, but Petra had finally tracked her down. The Romanov woman unholstered her pistol and fired off a few stunning shots but was unable to land a hit.

The pair soon arrived at the edge of the building, overlooking the massive skyway. Petra had her quarry cornered now, or so she thought. Just as she raised her pistol to take the shot, the young Alliance thief leapt from the rooftop. Petra quickly ran to the edge of the roof to see the woman riding away on the roof of a passing skytruck branded with the logo of an Alliance beer company.

“ _Der’mo!_ ” Petra cursed as she watched her target fade into distance. “You’ve got to be kidding me…” If there was one thing the Romanov bounty hunter hated more than anything, it was losing a target. She had a reputation to keep up after all.

Petra sighed as she turned away from the ledge. “Time for plan B,” she said aloud as she began to long walk back to where she had parked her skycar. It had taken weeks to track down her target, and she had slipped through her fingers just like that.

By the time Petra returned to her skycar, the Romanov woman’s mood was quite sour. She also had the strong feeling that she was being followed. Petra placed a hand on her pistol, ready for anything.

“Excuse me, luv, but I think you dropped something.” The voice was unmistakable. Petra turned to see her old friend Arlon Jett standing behind her, with her target in hand.

“Arlon?” Petra asked, feeling quite surprised. “What the hell are you doing here?”

“I believe the words you’re looking for are ‘thank you,’” the Genevan mercenary chided her as he pushed the Alliance woman over to her.

“Yeah, yeah. Whatever. I had it under control.”

“Sure you did,” Arlon taunted her. “It looked to me like she got away from you. What’s she wanted for anyway?”

“This one made the mistake of stealing from Markovic,” Petra explained.

“You still work for that fat shit?” Arlon asked.

“Markovic may be a shit, but he still pays well,” Pera countered.

“Fair enough,” Arlon laughed.

“So what brings you out here?” Petra asked her old friend. “I heard you’re in charge of the Red Suns now.”

“Indeed,” Arlon replied. “I’m here to offer you a job. I want you to come help me run the Red Suns.”

“You know I prefer to work alone,” Petra responded. “I’m sorry, but I’m gonna have to decline.”

“Petra, I’m working on something big,” Arlon pushed. His expression turned quite serious as he placed a hand on her shoulder. “I need people I can trust. I wouldn’t be here if there was anyone else I could rely on.”

“You’re serious about this, aren’t you?” Something about Arlon’s words troubled her.

“Yes,” Arlon replied. “Why don’t you at least come back to the _Corsair_ with me? We shouldn’t talk about this here. Please hear me out before you make a decision.”

“Alright, then. I’ll listen, but it doesn’t mean I’m saying yes just yet.”

* * *

Arlon scanned the war room aboard the _UAS Corsair_ , looking into the face of each of each of his compatriots. It was time to bring them into the loop. He stepped forward and placed his Pokedex on the table. It projected out a holoscreen filled with all the information the Red Suns’ leader had been gathering.

“What are we looking at here?” Petra asked.

“This… is everything I know about the man known as Mr. Silver,” Arlon explained. He turned his gaze toward Rena and Kiril. “I believe some of you may already be familiar with him. For those who aren’t… He seems to have his hand in every facet of galactic events, and I intend to find out why.”

“And ‘ow, exactly, do you expect to achieve zis?” Rena asked.

“That is a very good question,” Arlon responded. “Mr. Silver seems to know _everything_ before _everyone_ else. I first encountered him during my travels aboard the _Dunsparce_. He provided us with coordinates that lead us to the location of Earth.”

“Earth?” Luke asked. “Like, the origin planet Earth?”

“Precisely, mate. We provided him with artifacts from Earth, and ever since I have been doubting that decision. I even suspect that he was the one behind the Genesect attack on Solace Prime. His technology is far beyond anything I’ve seen and that project seemed sketchy, even for the bloody Romanovs.”

“Da,” Kiril agreed. “Romanov scientists work closely with government, but not these ones.”

Petra simply crossed her arms. “So, if what you’re saying is true, finding out anything about this guy is going to be damn near impossible,” the Romanov woman pointed out.

“Well, it won’t be a bloody walk in the park, that’s for sure,” Arlon conceded. “But I believe that we can do this.”

“So, what’s our play then?” Luke asked. The Alliance mercenary cracked his knuckles, appearing eager to get to work.

“Simple,” Arlon replies. “We start working for the man. Garth was already working jobs for Mr. Silver when he was in charge, and I have worked for Mr. Silver myself, so that’s the easy part. What happens next places each and every one of us in danger. We will use what we learn working for Mr. Silver to begin uncovering his operations on our own. I know it’s asking a lot, but I trust each and every one of you with my life.”

“We’re with you, Arlon,” Rena told him. Judging from the expressions on his lieutenants faces, Arlon knew that she spoke for all of them. That just left Petra.

“Well, Petra, are you in?” Arlon asked.

“If this Mr. Silver is as dangerous as you say he is, I’ve got your back,” Petra answered.

“I knew I could count on you,” Arlon responded. “Remember, this conversation never leaves this room,” he continued, addressing each of his lieutenants. “Not even our own men can know what we’ve discussed here; they’ll be safer that way… and so will we.”

* * *

Arlon stepped off the _UAS Corsair_ into the large hangar. The Red Suns’ leader gazed around the familiar space for a moment before walking off toward the door. The guards nodded and allowed him to pass into the immaculate white hallway.

Arlon walked through the corridors, deeper into the heart of the high-tech ship. The guards waved him along at each intersection until he arrived at a set of doors. As soon as Arlon approached the doors, they slid open, revealing the dimly lit office. The familiar silhouetted figure of a Mr. Mime stood facing out the viewport.

“Hello, Mr. Silver,” Arlon said as the door shut behind him.

“Greetings, Arlon Jett. I understand you are now the leader of the Red Suns,” the distorted voice responded as the augmented Pokemon turned to reveal its screen-face. “We have much to discuss.”

“Indeed we do, mate. Let’s get to business then, shall we?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a series I had wanted to do for a while (as in shortly after the start of Volume 2), but I only got inspired to start writing it once we reconvened for the start of Volume 3. Since we started meeting every other week instead of weekly, I decided I had the time to work on this concurrently with the regular Spacemon series. This series will be following Arlon and the Red Suns through various adventures that take place concurrently to the events of the main story. This part takes place during the months immediately following the end of Volume 1 during which Arlon worked to rebuild the Red Suns and laid out his plan to uncover Mr. Silver’s plans. Specifically, this part occurs a little while after Chapter 16 of Volume 1, between the events Part 1 and Part 2 of the GM's mini-series, Tempore Ex Machina.
> 
> With this series, I was looking to give you a look at what Arlon’s been up to since leaving the crew of the UAS Helix, expand upon the other members of the Red Suns who had made several cameos in the main series, and tie the overarching narrative of Spacemon together. Prepare yourselves for gritty space action, fun, and excitement! You'll find the Red Suns operate quite differently than the Helix crew.


	22. Tempore Ex Machina, Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gilgamesh and Hondo round out their team as they prepare to take on their dangerous mission.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As with the last part of this mini-series, this one was written by the GM, but I have uploaded it here with his permission. It was actually written before the start of Volume 3, but it was inserted here, shortly before the start of Volume 2 and sandwiched between the first two parts of Seeing Red, as that is where it falls in the timeline.

The men of OmniGuard Industries’ 23rd “Drapion” company were renowned for their skill, professionalism, and tenacity.  As long as he was under contract, Commander Samuel Rodriguez would damn well see to it their reputation stayed that way.  Like the majority of military and naval forces in Alliance space, OmniGuard Industries was a privatized security organization that licensed its forces to governments and various corporations.  Today, “Drapion” had been assigned to Starlight, LLC.

Except this man, Aarn Hondo, did not seem at all like a representative of an interstellar charting company.  Commander Rodriguez had been notified that he was actually an independent party Starlight’s CEO had endorsed for this op as some kind of personal favor.  Unusual, but he would be treated no differently than any standard client.

This Hondo continued his briefing.  “Now, the objective in question is traditionally known as…” He flipped through the references Gilgamesh had provided him earlier.  “Ah, here we are!  The Sinai call it the “Eye of Aether.”  It is said to be an artifact of … _mystical_ persuasion.”  This earned a few snickers from some of the soldiers.

“Hey!” barked Rodriguez.  Everyone else immediately fell silent.  “I won’t hear any disrespect from you lousy ‘compactors!  The client gives you instructions, and you follow them!  He says ‘jump,’ the only thing I wanna hear outta you is--”

“ **How high, Sir!** ”

“Damn right!” nodded Rodriguez.  “Continue,” he gestured to Hondo.

The smuggler captain chuckled.  “Look, I don’t particularly care about this _mumbo jumbo_ myself, but my client has good information.  All that _really_ matters is that this thing is worth _a lot of money!_  Now then!  We know it’s located deep within hostile Romanov space … which is where you come in!”

Hondo proceeded to explain further details about the mission itself.  Rodriguez frowned: it seemed like good intel and it wasn’t a bad plan, but there were still too many _unknowns_.  He waited for Hondo to finish speaking, then dismissed the men.  “So … big op, sir,” he said.

“Oh!  There’s no need for such formality between us, I assure you!” Hondo laughed back.  “What’s on your mind?”

“Well … an operation this size, you’re gonna need more than just a bunch of guns and muscle.  And I have a feeling you ain’t too keen on purchasing our … I think the suits upstairs are calling it our 'Tactical Plus Package.'"  Hondo raised an eyebrow, and Rodriguez continued: “We’re gonna need access to a few more key resources, in my opinion, if we want to be able to pull this thing off.”

“Go on...”

“Well, for starters, we’re gonna need one helluva techie…”

* * *

Dazzling city lights flashed past as the skycab drifted downward to the grittier surface.  The three men inside glanced at one another.  “So, tell me again,” said Hondo.  “Why are we _here_.”  They had gone to Xiaou, an urban world on the fringes of Federation core space.  It was also a former Romanov colony.

“Right.  Gentlemen …” Rodriguez began, opening a holochart with relevant information.  “We’re here because of _her_.  We need a techie, and scuttlebug says she’s the best in the business.  Although we don’t know much about her, including her real name, we do know that she goes by 'Meta,' and we’ve been able to narrow location her down to this city and district.”  Gilgamesh raised an eyebrow, and Rodriguez continued his briefing.  “See, OmniGuard has partnerships with various firms that work in data tracking and trafficking.  Anyone with a Spacenet presence, you can be sure we know something about them.  Kinda scary, actually … but if she’s as good as they say she is, she’ll know we’re coming so stay keen.”

The three stepped out of the car as soon as it landed, and onto the littered pavement.  “So what do you want to do, wait for her to come to us?” Rodriguez asked.

“ _No no_.  I think,” Hondo’s nose twitched as his underworld intuition kicked in.  “That she will not be so hasty to reveal herself.  We must _draw_ her out.”

Gilgamesh closed his eyes and took in a deep breath.  The entire area was permeated with desperation and despair; not surprising for such a poverty stricken place.  Such was unfortunately quite usual for the lower levels of tall cities.  Gilgamesh focused deeper, and sensed a cluster of minds further down an alleyway.  He walked forth, and the other two followed him.

Eventually the alley opened into an elevator station; here there were too many minds in one place to single anyone out, but he definitely had a feeling.  “We’ll start here,” he said.

“Bah!” Hondo cried, scanning the crowd.  “ _Everyone_ here is an urchin!   _This_ … is going to be difficult, I’m afraid.”

Rodriguez was the first to step forward, approaching a scrawny boy.  “Hey there!  What’s your name, kid?” he asked, transferring five credits to the boy’s Pokedex.  Small eyes looked back up at him tentatively.

“Lee.”

“Well Lee, maybe you can help me out.  I’m looking for someone.  Her name’s 'Meta.'  Heard of her?”  The boy shook his head and scampered off.  “Damn.”

“I might have heard of her …” said a voice behind them.

The commander spun around, and saw another kid, slightly older, with his eyes glued to his Pokedex screen.  He continued without looking away from the screen: “She’s like some kind of hacker, a bit of a local legend, I guess.  She comes in and trolls the Xiaou politick forums sometimes.”

This time it was Hondo who stepped forward.  “Oh?  Perhaps you can tell us more?”  He paused, and then added: “We are looking to _hire_ her, you see.”

“What’s in it for me?”

“Oho!  You’ll find I can be a very generous man, much like my friend here!” Hondo answered, patting Rodriguez on the back.  “When I’m in the mood, _of course_.”

“Oh yeah?  Well I’ve never heard of her taking on jobs, but who knows?  If you’re looking for a place to start …” the kid frowned and pondered.  “There’ve been a lot of strikes against the First Minister lately, I guess.  Some people say Meta was--” His screen flashed red and emitted a sharp _beep_.

“Errr … gotta go!  Sorry!”  he stammered, and ran out of sight.

“Bah!” cried Hondo.  “ _Kids_ these days!”

“I don’t know, man,” said Rodriguez.  “ _Somethin’_ spooked him.  Didn’t even ask for the creds.”

Gilgamesh, meanwhile, had been searching the crowd, in a manner only one versed in the gifts as he could.  He cast his consciousness out farther and farther, becoming not only aware of the surrounding aura, but each individual person that helped weave the whole as well.

And that was when Gilgamesh knew they were being watched.

* * *

This was getting out of hand; the three of them were currently dangling from and elevator cable pulling them up at a dangerous speed.  Hondo _still_ wasn’t sure what just happened.

One moment, Gilgamesh was calling them over to a girl who had been looking at them; she couldn’t have been older than twenty.  The next thing Hondo knew, that girl was riding a Pokemon, a Magnezone to be specific, up,  _outside_ one of the elevator shafts.

Rodriguez had been the first to react.  One released Drapion and wrecked elevator door later, the three of them were inside the empty shaft.

With only one way up.

“Remind me” said Hondo, his voice barely audible above the screeching air.  “Never to follow you on th--”

The cables jerked _hard_ as the elevator far above them stopped, slamming them into the walls.  “I’m getting too old for this …” groaned Hondo.

Then the elevator began to move back down.

“Well, _shit_ ,” said Rodriguez.

Gilgamesh wasted no time sending out a Pokemon: the Gardevoir flew out of the Pokeball, and with a wordless command, teleported them all to the safety of the elevator car interior.  From there, Gilgamesh simply pulled the emergency override brake lever, and the elevator stopped once more.  He returned the Gardevoir, closed his eyes, and a moment later said: “She is fleeing in that direction.”  He pointed out the elevator window towards a skylane whose traffic stops were beginning to all signal “Stop” one by one.

“Oh, she is _good_ ,” said Rodriguez.

“She had better be worth all this,” Hondo responded.  “Let us see if we can gain an _upper hand_ here.”  He reached for the controls, and sent the elevator back up, to the top of the tower.  The three of them got off and ran towards the edge of the building.  Hondo looked around and spotted a parked skycar.  He spent a few moments fiddling with the locking mechanism, then thought twice, pulled out his blaster, and shot the door open.  The other two men hopped in as Hondo hotwired the controls, and they drove off in the direction of the runaway hacker, avoiding the artificially induced traffic jam several lanes below.

They raced forward, weaving through the oncoming traffic and signal bots far faster than the legal speed limit.  Up ahead, Hondo saw a red skycar bank hard to the right, revealing Meta and her Magnezone latched to its front; she had probably remotely hacked _its_ controls as well.  He pushed forward to the intersection, zooming through the hazy Xiaou air.  As he made the turn, he saw the same red skycar up ahead, once again each signal switching to “Stop” as it passed.

“Wait,” said Gilgamesh.

“ _Wait?!_  She’s gonna get away!” yelled Rodriguez.

“Only if the captain continues to pursue the car,” replied the monk.  “I no longer sense her presence aboard.  Now she is … inside this residence complex,” he continued, motioning to the building on their right.  Hondo heeded the psychic, and parked the skycar.  The three of them then disembarked and followed Gilgamesh to one of the doors.

“You sure this is the place?” asked Rodriguez, sending out his Drapion.

“Yes.”

The Drapion ripped the door off of the wall, revealing a girl and a Magnezone inside.

“What gave it away?” asked Meta.

* * *

“Well … this is rather a lot to take in, don’t you think?” Meta mused after the three men before her had explained everything.  “And _you!_ ” she said, turning to Gilgamesh; she hadn’t considered the possibility of a telepath pursuing her, which was the only reason they were even having this conversation.  “I’ve heard stories about the superhuman capabilities of the monks of Sinai.  But thought they were all _Tauros_.”  Until now, of course.  She peered at Gilgamesh: “Just what _else_ can you do, I wonder?”

“I am simply in tune with the Universe,” Gilgamesh answered with an air of impenetrable mysticism; his companions seemed used to it by now, so she made a mental note to do some deeper research on the subject later.

“Alright, let’s say I believe your story.  Why should I help you?”

“We can pay you a lot of money,” offered the man who had introduced himself as Aarn Hondo.  The identity of an Outer Rim Gym Leader was easily verifiable, but a self-proclaimed smuggler captain was more likely than not to do business under false names.

“I have no need for your credits, I’m afraid,” she replied.

“ _No need for our credits!?!_  Child, I am _offended_ by your poor sense.  It’s not everyday a sum like this lands in your lap!”

“Maybe not for most people.  Which I’m not.  And I’m _not_ a child!  I’m--” she stopped herself.  She saw no real reason to reveal any personal information, no matter how trivial.  “So, I will ask again: why should I help you?”

“There must be _something_ you want,” offered Commander Rodriguez.  He seemed less likely to be deceptive, but Meta would be sure to double check his credentials anyway.

She stood there and thought for a solid minute before speaking.  “Well, since by this point I’m _reasonably_ sure,” she began, grinning.  “That you are not, in fact, law enforcement ... Xiaou, Romanov, Federation, or otherwise … I can tell you that I fancy tech.  Not the kind you can just buy off the Spacenet.  Or the black market.  In short, tech that I could only get my hands on if I had, say, a friend inside the Alliance’s top defense contractors.”

“That would be …” Rodriguez was about to say illegal, but he doubted that would provide much dissuasion to someone like Meta.  “A breach of my contract.  I could lose my job if I leaked classified information and technology to a civilian or foreigner.”

“If it makes you feel any better, I can save you the trouble leaking information,” she remarked, waving a drive.  “In fact, I have a shopping list ready.  Get me these, and I’ll _consider_ aiding you.”

“How do I know you’ll keep up your end, then?” Rodriguez asked.

“Smart: maybe you’re not so hopeless after all,” she smiled.  “You _don’t_.  But that’s my offer.  So let’s say I _am_ interested for now.  Tell me more about this artifact.  What makes it so valuable?”

“It is called the Eye of Aether.  It has many properties,” replied Gilgamesh.

“Such as?”

“It is said to transmute any material, solve any riddle, grant eternal youth, offer glimpses into the future… and resurrect the dead,” said the monk.

Meta frowned.  “That’s not possible.  Having just _one_ of those properties is, frankly, unbelievable.  And you’re telling me that one object is said to do _all of that?_  That this thing is some kind of real-world _deus ex machina?_ ”

No, it was far more likely to be the product of myths and wishful thinking.  Meta considered herself to have an open mind.  After all she had just observed evidence of psionic abilities in a Sinai monk; she had written the rumors off years ago, but was fully ready to accept them (or at least some of them) as fact now.  So perhaps … perhaps this “Eye of Aether” really was some kind of object of power, and the accounts of it grew wild and inaccurate with each telling.  Yes, that was highly probable.

Meta had expected protest from Gilgamesh.  She had interacted with many people from Sinai space in Spacenet forums; they typically had a habit of close minded defensiveness whenever their religion and beliefs were questioned.  But Gilgamesh was quiet for a moment, then simply said: “You may be right.  Of the Eye of Aether, much is said but little is known.  I myself do not have the answers you seek, but I can tell you that it--”

“My friends, it might interest you to know that we have company,” Hondo interrupted, peering out through the window shaders.  “There is a skycar parked just outside.  Black, Genevan make.  Very expensive.”

“Then it’s not from around here, that’s for sure,” said Meta.

“Someone was following us!” Rodriguez grimaced and reached for his Pokeball.  “How about we--”

“Hold on!” cried Meta.  Maybe he actually was hopeless.  “We don’t actually know if this is an enemy or a spy or just a bystander or what have you.   _Why_ do you think you were followed?”

Gilgamesh cleared his throat.  “I revealed the Eye’s location to one who I should not have trusted.  He is known for dealing in information.  They call him Mr. Silver.”

Now _there_ was a name Meta recognized: anyone who was important, _actually important_ , had heard that name.  As Meta understood it, Mr. Silver was a top player in the Grand Game of information, intelligence, and control.  The man (or woman, the name could be a misdirection as far as anyone knew) was a _legend_.  And if this was true, and one of Mr. Silver’s agents really was just outside …

“Don’t worry about it,” she said, pulling out her Pokedex.  “It’s probably nothing.  Just a tourist or something.”  She prayed the idiot commander wouldn’t press the issue, in case the agent was listening to their conversation.  It simply wouldn’t do to tip them off!  She continued to type on her Pokedex.   _Naturally_ she had hacked all of Xiaou’s traffic and bots to index and track all passing vehicles on the planet.   _Naturally_ she had handheld access to the systems of each and every skycar on the list.  It was just a simple matter of hacking this particular one’s wireless signal, bouncing into all passenger devices onboard, and … and she had instant access to the agent’s computer and Pokedex.  Now it was time to stall while she downloaded, well, _everything_.

“You mentioned Romanov Supremacist space?” she asked the men.  It seemed safe enough: if Gilgamesh was the one who told Mr. Silver where the Eye was, then Mr. Silver already knew not only the location, but that _they knew_ as well.  “Yes,” Gilgamesh began, and proceeded to fill Meta in on obvious details that she filtered out as mostly garbage.  Rodriguez began to chip in with operational details as well, before Hondo elbowed him sharply in the rib.  Good to know there was someone else around here who wasn’t a _complete idiot_.

Her Pokedex beeped to signal that the download was complete.  She looked down, and grinned.  “Let’s have some fun with out mysterious guest,” she said deviously as she overrode the skycar’s controls.  They heard a very loud zoom outside, followed about fifteen seconds later by a more distant crash.

“You,” remarked Hondo, peeking outside the window once again.  “Are a frightening and dangerous individual.  I _like_ you!”

Meta’s grin grew even wider.  “Let’s see what goodies our friend brought us!” she said, accessing the downloaded data.  After several minutes of reading, she said, “Well, this data confirms Mr. Silver’s involvement.  But he wasn’t sloppy.  The Pokedex was registered to a Councillor Robert Heinkel of München, nothing particularly useful.  The computer, on the other hand … had recorded recent communications between Heinkel and Mr. Silver, but a failsafe began wiping the drive as soon as it detected my tampering.  Here’s what I was able to recover.”

The four of them gathered around the screen that read: 

“Have you received ze shipment of samples ve recovered from ze garden site on Blitzen?”

**“ >Yes, they have proven to be most interesting.”**

“Ve had some minor trouble with a group of folk from Sinai, if zat means anything to you.”

**“ >Of course.  The Congregate is always drawn to these kinds of ruins.  Speaking of which, I would like you to monitor a certain meddling monk.  You should be familiar with him.”**

“Ah, yes, of course … have you an updates on … ze weapon project?”

**“ >You have no need to worry.  I will be there to personally ensure the project’s success.”**

Meta frowned as she read the last line.  “That doesn’t make sense.  Mr. Silver never shows up in person.  Every account I’ve heard says he communicates only through intermediaries.  Right?”

“When I spoke with him, it was through a Pokemon he commanded remotely,” nodded Gilgamesh. He turned to Hondo.  “This bodes ill. I must go and investigate this “garden” matter.  I shall be away for perhaps three months.  In the meantime, prepare yourselves for this quest.”

“I don’t like this…” mused Hondo.  “It smells like a trap.”

“Oh it’s _definitely_ a trap!” Meta smiled.  “I do believe I’m interested in joining you lot after all …”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We got to meet some interesting new characters here. First off, there's Commander Rodriguez, the sort of cut and dry military type. The GM took this piece as an opportunity to expand on Alliance military structure. Being a hardcore capitalist society where corporations are people and can hold office and run things, it's no surprise that the bulk of Alliance military might is made up of paramilitary organizations. Then we have Meta, the super hacker. She's a favorite character amongst the other players for good reason. She is easily one of the most interesting characters in the whole of Spacemon.


	23. Seeing Red, Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Red Suns start piecing things together as they work to uncover the machinations of Mr. Silver

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As with the last part of Seeing Red, this piece was written during Volume 3, but it falls just before the start of Volume 2, so that is where it has been inserted in the series. It falls into the timeline just after the events of the second part of Tempore Ex Machina.

Arlon calmly walked across the Erebus spaceport, looking at the various buildings that had sprung up since his last visit. This settlement had been just a small outlaw’s den when Arlon had come to this planet aboard the _Dunsparce_ many months ago, but, since then, it had become a thriving spaceport for mercenaries, smugglers, bounty hunters, and all sorts of rogues and scum. _My kind of place_ , the Genevan mercenary thought as he arrived at his destination: Aarn Hondo’s scrap shop.

Arlon stepped inside and took a look around, before proceeding to the back, where he spotted the smuggler speaking with his men. “Well, if it isn’t Arlon Jett,” Hondo spoke up upon seeing the man. The smuggler dismissed his men and walked up to Arlon. “Word is that you’re running the Red Suns now.”

“News travels fast, I see,” Arlon observed.

“Indeed,” Hondo replied. “Now, what can I do for you, my friend?”

“Well, mate, I need some information,” Arlon told him.

“What sort of information?”

“Do you remember the last time we met?”

“Yes, yes,” the smuggler answered. “Of course. I provided you with a warp drive for your ship, and in exchange you delivered a package for me.”

“Yes, and I wish we hadn’t,” Arlon muttered. “Look, mate, I need to know where that package came from.”

“And what’s in it for me if I tell you?” Hondo asked, a hint of greed in his voice.

“I’m not in the mood to play these games, mate,” Arlon said dryly. “I’ll pay you a thousand credits.”

“Make it fifteen-hundred.”

“Done,” Arlon responded quickly. He pulled out his Pokedex and forwarded the funds to the smuggler.

“Thank you, my friend,” Hondo told him. “Now, I’m afraid I don’t know where that package came from specifically. I was contacted by a middle-man.”

“I need anything you’ve got. Did this middle-man give you any information?”

“Not really,” Hondo explained. “All he said was that his employer needed the package delivered to the Alexi System, and not to open it under any circumstances.”

“Damn, that’s what I was afraid of,” Arlon responded. “That sounds like Mr. Silver alright.”

“Mr. Silver?” Hondo asked. “I’ve heard that name before.”

“I’m sure, mate,” Arlon told him. “The man’s got his hand in everything, it seems. But if you know anything else about him, I would be grateful.”

“Not much, I’m afraid,” Hondo explained. “It’s a name that came up during another job I’m working on.”

“Really?” Arlon asked. “What is this job?”

“I really shouldn’t…”

“I’ll pay you another fifteen-hundred,” Arlon told him.

“You’ve got yourself a deal.” Hondo responded, rubbing his hands together.

“Alright then, mate, give me the details.”

“I met a Sinai monk out in the Outer Rim,” Hondo started to explain. “He enlisted my aid in tracking down some sort of _mystical_ artifact. It’s supposedly very valuable. The name Mr. Silver came up during the job, and the old man went off to investigate. The job’s on hold until he returns.”

“I see,” Arlon responded. “This monk, I don’t suppose he goes by the name Gilgamesh?”

“He does, in fact,” Hondo told the mercenary. “Why do you ask?”

“Some friends of mine are looking for him,” Arlon explained. “The crew I was running with the last time I was here. They want his guidance or something like that.”

“I see,” Hondo replied. “I’m afraid I don’t know exactly where he is at the moment. The last he checked in, he was heading to the planet Vandia in Sinai space.”

“Thanks, mate,” Arlon told him. “I’ll pass that information along. But, in case you hear from him again, I’ll leave their contact information with you.” The Genevan mercenary pulled out his Pokedex and transmitted the _Helix_ ’s contact information to Hondo. “They’re on a new ship now: the _UAS Helix_.”

“Yes, yes,” the smuggler replied. “I’ll be sure to do that.”

“Alright, thanks again for your help, mate.”

“A pleasure, as always, my friend.”

* * *

“Federation Marine Corps,” Luke said, pointing to a tattoo on his left bicep depicting the Salamence skull imagery often associated with Federation soldiers. “Twelfth Division.”

“Hah,” Petra responded with a laugh. “You don’t strike me as the type.”

The pair were leaning against a few stacks of crates near the _Corsair_ in the Erebus spaceport, talking while the men loaded supplies into the cargo hold. While Arlon was out seeing to his business in town, he had left his lieutenants in charge of restocking.

“I thought it would be more interesting,” Luke explained. The Alliance merc crossed his arms again. “I signed on when I was young, and looking for excitement. I was stationed on the _FNS Katana_ , and most of the time the job was just stand around all day, conduct searches of ships coming through warp gates, and maybe, _just maybe_ , we got to skirmish with some pirates.”

“Sounds about right.”

“Yeah.” Luke laughed. “Soon as my tour was done, I got out of there. After that I joined one of those Alliance paramilitary groups.”

“Ah, only in the Alliance does a corporation need a private army.”

“Yeah… that shit can be pretty shady sometimes. At least I was in a good company.” The merc pointed to a stylized Drapion logo tattooed on his other bicep. “OmniGuard Industries’ 23rd ‘Drapion’ Company. The commander, Rodriguez, was a pretty chill guy. Everyone liked him.”

“Why’d you leave?” Petra asked.

“The money was good, but I was sick of being loaned out to shady organizations and that kind of shit.” Luke sighed. “At least as a merc I can choose who to work for. And of course that brings us here,” he continued. This time he pointed to the Red Suns’ logo tattooed just below the Drapion. “So, what’s your story?” he asked, eyeing the spiraling Gyarados and Milotic tattoos inked on the Romanov woman’s right and left forearms, respectively.

“What, these?” Petra asked, looking down at her arms. “I’ve always thought they were majestic creatures. These tats don’t really symbolize anything like yours.”

“I see,” Luke responded.

“Time to get moving!” Arlon’s voice suddenly interrupted. The pair turned to see their boss approaching. “Hurry it up! We’ve got places to be!”

“Guess we’d best stop standing around,” Petra said with a laugh, before following Arlon onto the ship.

“You heard the man, get a move on!” Luke shouted to the men, then followed suit.

“Get what you needed?” Petra asked the Red Suns’ leader as the trio walked through the corridors of the Corsair toward the bridge.

“I suppose,” Arlon told her. “It wasn’t much, but I think we can safely say the Genesect came from Mr. Silver.”

“We already knew that though,” Luke chimed in.

“Yeah, but at least we’re certain now. The good news is that I got a lead on Gilgamesh.”

“That’s unexpected,” Petra comments. “How’d that work out?”

“Turns out Hondo’s working some kind of job with him,” Arlon explained. “Apparently the monk’s looking for some kind of artifact. It might be worth looking into. But, for now, at least I can let the _Helix_ know where he’s headed.”

“Arlon, Mr. Silver contacted us for another job,” Rena announced as they arrived on the bridge.

“Really now?” Arlon asked. “What’s that bastard want us to do this time?”

“Why don’t you ‘ave a look?” Rena asked him as she brought the details up on the viewscreen.

The image of a blond-haired Alliance scientist caught Arlon’s eye right away. Something about him seemed… _familiar_ , but he couldn’t quite place it. “Dr. Louis Armstrong, huh?” Arlon asked no one in particular. “I wonder what Mr. Silver wants with this bloke.”

“All it says is ‘e wants us to capture ‘im, or kill ‘im if we can’t,” Rena replied.

“Well, I can bloody see that. We need to find out _why_. Rena, tell Matthias to find out everything there is to know about this Armstrong guy,” Arlon instructed his lieutenant.

“Got it,” Rena responded. She walked off the bridge and set out to look for the Red Suns’ ace hacker.

“As for the rest of you,” Arlon said, eyeing the rest of the Red Suns on the bridge. “See if you can’t find where this guy is.” The Genevan mercenary settled into the pilot’s seat and fired up the engines. “Right then, let’s get out of here.”

* * *

Arlon sighed as he looked over the data his men had been gathering the past few days. This Armstrong fellow was proving very hard to track down. So far all they had been able to find out was that the man had been a leader in the field of theoretical biology, and that Mr. Silver had put the word out to all his agents to find him.

“What’s so bloody important about this guy?” Arlon grumbled to himself. “And more importantly, where the hell is he? He’s completely off the grid.”  This fact was the most unsettling to the Red Suns’ leader. He knew that he had to get to him first. Armstrong had to have tons of information Mr. Silver wanted to keep locked away, and if any of his other agents got there first, that information would be lost to Arlon forever.

“I’m gonna need help on this one,” Arlon determined as he looked over the data again. He resolved to ask the _Helix_ for help once the Corsair dropped out of warp space. It was way past time he talked with them anyway; the Genevan merc had been so engrossed in finding Armstrong that he still had yet to contact his old crew about Gilgamesh.

As if on cue, the _Corsair_ dropped out of warp space near the Sector 27 warp gate. Before making the jump back to the Red Suns’ base on Banton, Arlon sent the call out. He only had to wait a few moments before Morgan’s face appeared on the viewscreen.

“Hello, luv,” Arlon greeted her cheerfully.

“Oh, hello, Arlon,” the young woman replied. “What do you need?”

“I have the information you requested,” Arlon informed her.

“So you found Gilgamesh, then?” Morgan asked.

“Well, not exactly,” Arlon told her. “But I have it on good authority that Gilgamesh was last headed for the planet Vandia in Sector 13. Sinai Space.”

“I see,” Morgan responded. She glanced over her shoulder, briefly before turning back to Arlon. “Well, uh, thank you. Was there anything else you needed?”

“You alright?” Arlon asked her. “You seem a bit… _agitated_.”

“I’m not agitated,” Morgan quickly replied. “Why would I be agitated?’

Arlon sighed. He decided it was better not to press the issue. “There was one other thing,” Arlon said after a few moments of silence. “There’s this Alliance scientist, Dr. Louis Armstrong. Mr. Silver is looking for him, and I need to find him first. I’ll send you the details, but I’m afraid he’s proving hard to track down.” He took a moment to transfer the data before continuing. “If you hear anything, please let me know, and be sure to let the rest of the crew know.”

“Alright, I’ll let them know,” Morgan agreed.

“Thanks, luv,” Arlon told her. “I’ll be in touch.”

* * *

“As of right now, this is everything we know,” Arlon announced to his lieutenants. Once again, he had called the four of them to the war room to go over their latest intel. The Red Suns’ leader threw up all their information on Mr. Silver on the holotable display for them to view. “Thanks to Hondo’s information, we have confirmed that Mr. Silver was the one who sent the Genesect samples to the rogue Romanov faction who used them to attack Solace Prime. And, we can safely say that this faction is the very same that is currently in open rebellion against the Romanov Union and the Federation. As you know, for the past few weeks, Petra has been gathering intel on them.” Arlon looked over to his Romanov lieutenant and nodded.

“They call themselves the Romanov Supremacy,” Petra said as she stepped up to the table. “As the name implies, their whole philosophy is centered around restoring Romanov glory. Basically, these guys want to build the biggest, baddest superpower the Galaxy has ever seen, and they don’t care who they have to trample to achieve that goal.”

“Well, they seem like friendly bunch,” Kiril grumbled.

“Yeah, not so much,” Petra agreed. “From what I’ve seen so far, if the Supremacists win, they’re going to be a big thorn in the side of people like us. Running jobs in Romanov space and the surrounding Outer Rim sectors is going to be really dicey as long as they’re around.”

“As much as I hate dealing with the Romanov government, they’re a hell of a lot better than the alternative, it seems,” Arlon concluded.

“Exactly. What’s even better is that their technology is more advanced than anything the Union has,” Petra continued. “More advanced that what anyone has.”

“So, you think Mr. Silver is supplying them?” Arlon asked.

“Given the previous connection, I think we can assume that, yes.”

“Now, the question is _why_?” Arlon asks, more rhetorically than anything. “That’s what we always come back to. Everything we find brings up more questions but never any answers. That’s why we _need_ to find Armstrong. He _has_ to know something.”

“But that trail’s gone cold, boss,” Luke cut in. “I’ve been running down every lead on him, but they never lead anywhere. It’s like he’s dropped off the face of the entire fucking galaxy.”

“The good news is, no one else has found him either,” Arlon added. “Mr. Silver’s contract on him is still unclaimed. So, keep looking. I’m sure he’ll turn up eventually. And, finally, there are the artifacts.” He paused for a moment to contemplate. “The artifacts from Earth that the _Helix_ crew and I turned over to him seemed to be very important to him, judging from how much he was willing to pay us, especially that skull… And then there’s this artifact Hondo mentioned Gilgamesh was after… Hondo did say Mr. Silver’s name came up. He must be after it as well, so it has to be important. Unfortunately, we don’t know anything about it.”

“So, what is our next move then?” Rena asked.

“All we can do is wait, and watch,” Arlon responded. “Sooner or later, one of these leads will turn something up. In the meantime, we’re not going to sit around and do nothing. It is highly likely that Mr. Silver will discover our deception eventually and, when he does, we’ll be cut off from our primary source of funding and he may even come after us. Until we get more intel, we need to focus on finding… _alternative_ … sources of revenue. That way, we won’t be at as much of a disadvantage.”

“What makes you so sure that he’ll find out?” Luke asked.

“He always finds out,” Arlon answered cryptically, but then a grin broke out on his face. “Either that, or we win, in which case we’ll need the money anyway. You’re all dismissed.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is another part that takes place between Volume 1 and Volume 2, as Arlon tries to piece together Mr. Silver’s plans. Specifically, this part falls between the second part of Tempore Ex Machina and the first chapter of Volume 2. So, to start off, Arlon goes to see Aarn Hondo about the Genesect package he gave us back in Volume 1, Chapter 2 and, since Hondo has been working with Gilgamesh as seen in Tempore Ex Machina, Arlon finds out where Gilgamesh is headed. A lot of the material used here was knowledge Arlon had that he passed on to the Helix crew in order to set up the story for Volume 2. Expanding on that seemed like the logical choice for this part. Leads on Gilgamesh and Armstrong are what we had at the start of Volume 2, so now the readers get to start Volume 2 with the same information we had as players. And then Morgan got to make a cameo! I based that interaction off of Arlon and Morgan’s stories in Volume 2, Chapter 0, which was a thing all the player collaboratively worked on between Volume 1 and Volume 2. That will follow this as the next entry in the series. I tied off this part with some planning stuff just to set up for the next few parts and to put the situation into perspective. Arlon is basically grasping at straws at this point; the leads are running cold and he’s only finding more questions instead of answers.


	24. Volume 2, Chapter 0: Interlude

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Helix crew tries to make sense of everything in the wake of the Battle of Solace Prime.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was something all the Spacemon players worked together in creating. We all wrote up our own little thing about what our characters did in the six-month in-game interim between Volume 1 and Volume 2.

## Arlon Jett - Red Suns Revival

The resolution of the battle with the Genesect provided very few answers and brought up far too many questions. Questions that needed to be answered. Something sinister was at work behind the scenes and Arlon was intent on finding out what it was. Arlon never found himself caring about big Galaxy-wide issues before, only caring about the next job, the next payment, but his experience being on the run from the law and from his former companions and the crazy things he encountered while traveling aboard the _Dunsparce_ had changed him.

There were mysterious forces at work, linking everything they had seen. Earth, the Genesect, Giratina, and, of course, the enigmatic Mr. Silver. These forces had the potential to change the face of the entire galaxy and Arlon wanted to be prepared for whatever came next. This was why he chose to part ways with the others. With his name cleared, Arlon hoped to return to the Red Suns and use their resources to pursue his goals. The others were resourceful and could handle themselves so Arlon felt his talents were better suited elsewhere.

Arlon returned to the planet Banton where the Red Suns were currently operating. He made contact with Rena Bordeaux, who had assumed leadership after learning of Garth’s betrayal, and learned that things had not been going smoothly. Garth had basically transformed the Red Suns from an elite team of bounty hunters into a pirate organization, trying to dig his fingers into as much of the underworld as possible. Rena and Kiril Zhukov were the only remaining Red Suns from the original team and had been a bit wary of Garth’s ambitions. With him out of the picture, they sought to return the Red Suns to their former state. But they were at odds with several of those Garth had brought on to replace Arlon and the former leader, Lars Rickets.

Arlon made contact at just the right time. With Arlon’s help, Rena and Kiril rid the Red Suns of any unsavory elements. The result was a new incarnation of the Red Suns, different from both of its past forms: more than just an organization of thugs, more than just a team of bounty hunters. Due to his strong leadership, Arlon was chosen to helm this new band of mercenaries with the goal of uncovering the mysterious forces at work in the Galaxy.

Of course managing more than just a small team of bounty hunters requires a good team of commanders. Rena and Kiril were the obvious choices, but aside from them Arlon also selected Luke Anderson, who had joined the Red Suns after Arlon left, and recruited his old friend and fellow bounty hunter Petra Azarov. It was a bit awkward at the start since several of them had recently thought of Arlon as an enemy, but after working together for a while, (and buying Kiril enough drinks to make up for Wonder Trading his Pokemon away), the Red Suns were a well oiled machine once again.

Mr. Silver was Arlon’s strongest lead and he knew that had to be involved somehow. He had never trusted Mr. Silver and wanted to find out what hand he was playing in this conspiracy. Finding out the enigmatic character’s goals and core operations became Arlon’s primary goal. He sought many jobs from Mr. Silver, jobs that were a perfect fit for the Red Suns’ resources. In addition to completing these jobs for Mr. Silver, Arlon also devoted significant resources to finding out why Mr. Silver wanted certain things done.

One such job was to track down a former Alliance scientist with a PhD in Theoretical Biology, Dr. Louis Armstrong. The instructions were to capture him, and failing that, to kill him. There must have been a good reason why and Arlon was intent on finding out the answer. The Red Suns uncovered files that linked him to some of Mr. Silver’s core operations. At one point he was clearly heavily involved with Mr. Silver’s operations and now he was on the run. Finding this scientist would provide invaluable insight into Mr. Silver’s goals. Recognizing the importance of this mission, Arlon made it the Red Suns’ top priority and also passed the information on to the _UAS Helix_ , knowing they would be very interested in it.

Additionally, as a personal favor to Morgan, Arlon discovered the last known location of Gilgamesh, the gym leader who had provided them with information on Giratina before they traveled to Earth. Arlon knew that Morgan had been looking for him and passed this information on to her. As far as anyone knew, Gilgamesh was last seen on the planet Vandia in Sinai space.

## Morgan Durand

After bidding farewell to Arlon, the rest of the party wasn’t exactly sure where to go. After all that had happened, none of them were too keen to take on any big jobs soon, and barring any big purchases they had enough money to last several months, at least. Dmitri seemed interested in taking a vacation, and Morgan had to admit it seemed like a good idea. Shortly after they dropped Dmitri off, Morgan decided she would leave as well. With barely a word of explanation, she took the ship to Genevan space, to a system near her home; still far enough away that no one she knew would find her, but close enough to feel familiar. The planet she departed on catered mostly to tourists and retirees, and she was able to rent a cabana for the month for a modest sum. It was a beach resort and should have been a pleasant experience, but Morgan found she was unable to enjoy herself at all. Had anyone cared to notice, they would have seen how irritable and jumpy she was all the time, but the resort staff were so used to being abused and snapped at that they wrote it off entirely. As the month dragged on, she spent an increasingly large amount of time in her room, brooding and trying to sleep but never able to snatch more than a couple hours of rest at a time. She wouldn’t even admit to herself that it was because of the nightmares. She blamed her terrible experience on everything she could think of - the service, the amenities, the other guests, anything but the unpleasant thoughts constantly clouding her own mind. By the time the month was up, she was more than ready to reboard the _Helix_.

Back on the ship, Morgan approached her work with unusual zeal. First of her list was to construct a set of Pokebots to serve the ship; a craft of the _Helix_ ’s size would require much more than four crew members, and although it was inevitable that they would have to hire more human crew, Morgan wanted as few strangers on the ship as possible. Based on their experience with the Genesect, she knew that it would be prudent to build a robot capable of hull repairs. She also realized that it would be unwise to continue to rely on H for medical care, as he seemed more interested in “enhancing” people than healing them. Although she would need his help to program an A.I. capable of providing care independently, it was a more attractive alternative to letting him continue unchecked. When working with him, Morgan wasn’t mean, per se, but she was curt - necessary, she thought, to keep him on track. Even though the bot required an A.I. chip, she was careful to give it as little personality as possible; the last thing the ship needed was more “personality.”

All the time she wasn’t in the _Helix_ ’s new robotics bay tinkering with her new creations, Morgan was typing away on the ship’s computer. If anyone had bothered to look, they would have seen her researching clairvoyance, though that’s not exactly how she put it when searching the Spacenet. She was looking for a more rational explanation for her experience, and stubbornly stayed away from sites veering too far into the occult. Despite that, it was difficult not to at least learn something from all this reading, and she found herself knowing more about occult matters than she had ever really wanted to. The more she read, the more unsure she was that there wasn’t something to all this talk, but it was a feeling she pushed to the bottom of her consciousness. After several months of little progress, however, she was growing desperate. If anyone truly knew anything about what was happening to her, it would have to be that Sinai Gym Leader they had met, Gilgamesh. That was why, one day when she was sure no one was looking, she contacted Arlon. She was relieved when he told her where Gilgamesh was without asking too many questions, and (again in complete privacy) even thanked him. Morgan wasn’t sure how she would convince the rest of the crew to go to Sinai space without revealing her intentions, but she was confident she would think of something.

Everything Morgan did after she reboarded the ship she did angrily; she spoke angrily, ate angrily, and the rest of the crew suspected she slept angrily, if she slept at all. The others quickly learned not to stand directly behind her, and hardly to look at her lest she snap at them for staring. Her behavior was obviously strange, but who was going to complain? Dmitri, who was still conspicuously absent? H, who seemed to have no idea what normal was and almost certainly didn’t care? Shane? Well, she couldn’t be sure what Shane would do, but he hadn’t tried anything yet, and if he did, well, it was a bridge she would cross when she came to it. Anyway, it was getting near the time when they were supposed to pick Dmitri up…

## Dmitri Smirnitsky - Respite of Revelations

Now that the battle was won, Dmitri along with the rest rest of the team said their farewells to Arlon, and set their sights towards the future. During their adventures the crew of the GCS _Dunsparce_ faced death on multiple occasions, dealt with stress and fear never experienced by most of them before, and in the end accomplished things they never could have imagined they would before they met such as visiting earth, bringing down a pirate organization, and becoming Federation heroes. With all this accomplished in a matter of only a few months the first thing Dmitri wanted to do was take a break. Dmitri decided to take a vacation on the planet known as Khepri V. A tropical world found in Federation space with large oceans and vast Jungles. Dmitri tried to relax with a number of activities such as fishing, hiking, swimming, and drinking. Even with all these things to distract him the visions he saw in the void disturbed him and many questions still lingered. Why did he see what he saw and what was it that he saw, why did Mr. Silver send them to earth, and who was behind the attack on Solace Prime. Dmitri decided to tackle the personal question first while the rest of the group did their own thing after Solace Prime. Through intense research Dmitri learned new things about himself, he realized the reason he had visions that no one else saw was because he has telepathic abilities that he didn’t realize he had that did not appear until they surfaced in the void and only now through his research is finally getting grasp over the gift he has. The ruins he discovered were most likely in Sinai space, but direct coordinates were impossible to come by. Dmitri decided the best way to get anymore information on the subject would be to visit Gilgamesh to hopefully find some answers to what the ruins are and to how his new powers work.

The other questions Dmitri knew he would have to wait and see what the group could find out together because Dmitri didn’t even know where to start to answer the other question he knew nothing about Mr. Silver or they way he thought. As for the mysterious signal Dmitri was also at a loss he knew next to nothing about computers and would be of little use for tracking where the signal came from.

With his new powers and no clear way of locating Gilgamesh without the rest of the _UAS Helix_ Dmitri filled the rest of his time with various task he set forth for himself. He decided to try to harness his new telepathic powers in two ways the first by meditating, trying to strengthen his focus. The other technique he used is best described as “practice makes perfect.” Dmitri particularly enjoyed this exercise in which he would practice his powers to read peoples minds, because he would hear some interesting things, being on a rather unassuming planet never heard anything particularly noteworthy.

Dmitri also spent sometime studying Genesect in the hopes of bringing one back, but hit a wall in the form that he had very restricted access to them. Firstly they were kept on the ship a place he was not always able to get to, and secondly Dmitri was far from the only person interested in studying them, but for different intentions. In the end Dmitri decided to take an indefinite break from this endeavor realizing that what he was hoping to do was beyond his ability and his resources for the time being.

##  Shane - Ghost in the Machine

After the Genesect battle, Shane did |\|0+ seem too phased. It seemed like a typical day for him, 0N|_Y they fought and beat an army of Genesect. Nothing special. He mainly spent his time wandering the ship and helping H \|\|1+# … whatever the hell H gets up to in the labs. Occasionally, when he wasn’t attempting to keep H or +H3 _Helix_ out of irreversible trouble, Shane would retreat to the new W4R| > lab, or at least the room he had determined W0U|_D be the warp lab, in order to try and understand his powers. 5#@|\|3 spent weeks researching, both inside the computer system and outside, and before he could |2E4|_!Z3 it, the ship was empty. Everyone had left at some point or another, going off on +#@T thing they called “Vacation.”

*BOOM*

Well, 4LM0$+ everyone.

“You don’t happen to have tranquilizers, duck tape, and a shovel do you?”

“You mean duct tape?”

“No, specifically for ducks.”

“Go to hell, H.”

“Currently planned for later but I’ve got more important things to do first. Regardless, care to help me find my items?”

“Why not?”

During @L|_ the time Shane and H spent on the ship, Shane had grown more distant from his self-proclaimed rival. Nevertheless, they took their collaborative 3FF0R+5 seriously, and often helped finish each other’s (mainly H’s) failed experiments.

Back in the “privacy” of his lab, Shane continued +0 experiment with his warpy, glitchy, bullshit abilities, attempting to U|\|D3R$+@N|] which effects were from +#3 |\/|@R|< and which ones W3R3 from his previous experience. Eventually, as the crew of the _Helix_ began to return to the ship, life seemed to return to a more normal state, for some FU+!L3 definition of the word. Shane drifted between his own various projects, BU+ helped out where he could. When the first of Morgan’s PokeBots was complete, Shane spent some time interacting with it.

“Your robots are boring.”

N0+#!|\|G could have prepared him for Morgan’s reaction, and Shane W@5 grateful that he was able to avoid her outburst. They rarely talked afterward:@$ much as it was |>@!|\|FU|_ to see Morgan in such a state of disarray as she was, he didn’t want +0 get caught in the crossfire. Dmitri returned eventually, and posed a question to 5#@|\|3 that he hadn’t even considered, despite the obvious implications.

He asked how Shane had known about the Origin planet or even how he was able to recognize it. The more Shane thought about it, the less certain he was about the answer, or even if he had one. @S questions began to flood into #!$ mind, they led to more questions than before, that Shane simply could not answer about his past. He returned to the warp lab with a slightly different |>URP0$3; He was searching for why he could use the warp, @N|) not how. As much as Shane tried to avoid #!5 past, he understood as an AI that he would eventually have to confront it and accept it as his 0R!G1|\|, whether or not he wanted to.

## H - A Tail's Tale

**Tail Log:  
** Startup Successful…Tail Log Online  
Begin Recording 

Entry 1-  
Task: Implantation of Tail Log into Artificial Tail  
Result: Success  
Notes: Vocal Link established, notetaking will begin through manual input or proper voice command.

Entry 2-  
Task: Tail Attachment to #1  
Result: Failure  
Notes: Tail cannot be attached with duct tape and remain for extended periods of time.  
More Research is required.

Entry 5-  
Task: Tail Attachment to #1  
Result: Success  
Notes: Binding of tail to #1 required bone-based sensor input to be prematurely implanted in tail base and outputs tail interactions at 99% accuracy. All future attachments will be based on this method until better methods are discovered.  
More Research is Required.

Entry 54-  
Task: Leg Repairs to the Chosen  
Result: Failure  
Notes: Improvised equipment proves inadequate.  
More Research is Required.

Entry 60-  
Task: Leg Repairs to the Chosen  
Result: Success  
Notes: Repairs and Augmentation have resulted in further improvement, the cause of the damage will no longer be problem. Expensive.  
More Research is Required.

Entry 84-  
Task: Arm Repairs for Subject  
Result: Failure  
Notes: Escape Necessary.  
More Research is Required.

Entry 100-  
Task: Hip Repairs for Subject  
Result: Failure  
Notes: Freelance work is costly.  
More Research is Required.

Entry 240-  
Task: Bodily Repairs for Subject  
Result: Success  
Notes: Ghost-Type Pokemon require additional knowledge to repair properly.  
More Research is Required.

Entry 260-  
Task: Retrieve Pokemon  
Result: Success  
Notes: Pokemon was not obtained, through rope has once again proven too useful to dismiss. #2’s string shot proved invaluable. More Research is Required.

Entry 267-  
Task: Research  
Result: ???  
Notes: Warp Drives modify matter oddly, further testing needed to obtain actual results.  
More Research is Required.

Entry 268-  
Task: Research  
Result: ???  
Notes: Warp drive experimentation INCREDIBLY unreliable.  
More Research is Required.

Entry 290-  
Task: WAILORD  
Result: WAILORD  
Notes: WAILORD IS ALL WAILORD IS ALL WAILORD IS ALL WAILORD IS ALL WAILORD IS ALL WAILORD IS ALL WAILORD IS ALL  
More Research is Required.

Entry 291-  
Task: Creation  
Result: Success  
Notes: Amazing Device Numbers expired, Letters shall now be used. Amazing Device A Operation, further research shall only improve and expand its possibilities.  
More Research is Required.

Entry 300-  
Task: Augmentation for the Chosen  
Result: Success  
Notes: Usage for excess flesh is unknown. Improvements shall be useful in combination with newfound strengths.  
More Research is Required.

Entry 312-  
Task: Research  
Result: Failure  
Notes: Dive Ball needed.  
More Research is Required.

Entry 350-  
Task: Creation  
Result: Success  
Notes: Heaty shall never need a number for my Heaty is Mine.  
More Research is Required.

Entry 364-  
Task: Augmentation for the Chosen  
Result: Success  
Notes: Do not augment without full mental control. Uses for augmentation still unknown.  
More Research is Required.

Entry 380-  
Task: Pokemon Move Storage  
Result: Success  
Notes: Ability to store moves in pokeballs works across types. Many Possibilities await. Pokeball Cannon Needed.  
More Research is Required.

Entry 400-  
Task: Test Data  
Result: Success  
Notes: New Tools work optimally. Genesect Prove interesting though difficult research opportunities; Due to their value genesect will be stored until their maximum research value can be obtained. Pokemon usage re-examination necessary.  
More Research is Required.

Entry 411-  
Task: Pokemon Examination  
Result: ???  
Notes: Pokemon intelligence is useless for research. Pokemon behavior is useless for research. Pokemon biology may prove useful to new augmentation research. Moves and abilities must be more closely studied. Experts may be needed.  
More Research is Required.

Entry 430-  
Task: Pokeball Examination  
Result: Failure  
Notes: Pokeballs will only contain Pokemon-based matter. Non-Pokemon-made Matter, even when identical, cannot be contained in a Pokeball no matter the augmentation.  
More Research is Required.

Entry 447-  
Task: Ghost Type Examination  
Result: Failure  
Notes: Certain Matter forms do not seem to be easy to control.  
More Research is Required.

Entry 459-  
Task: Elemental Combination  
Result: Failure  
Notes: Avoid working with volatile type combinations.  
More Research is Required.

Entry 488-  
Task: Elemental Combination  
Result: ???  
Notes: Elemental Combination is recorded as possible in the wild and seems to require control from both pokemon to succeed. However, Combinations only occur with Pokemon Moves, and They cannot combine with their surroundings even should they share the same property.  
More Research is Required.

Entry 500-  
Task: Elemental Combination  
Result: Failure  
Notes: Pokemon must be present to maintain control  
More Research is Required.

Entry 555-  
Task: Research  
Result: ???  
Notes: Human-Pokemon Combination has never been successful.  
More Research is Required.

Entry 557-  
Task: Pokeball Interaction  
Result: Failure  
Notes: Samples difficult to obtain and decay is problematic but unavoidable. No sucess.  
More Research is Required.

Entry 560-  
Task: Secret Power  
Result: Success  
Notes: Pokemon can modify their abilities based on surroundings.  
More Research is Required.

Entry 563-  
Task: Secret Power  
Result: Failure  
Notes: Pokemon does not handle new surroundings well and continues to avoid completing the test.  
More Research is Required.

Entry 566-  
Task: Secret Power  
Result: Success  
Notes: Mental Chip has allowed for proper performance under duress. May disappoint breeder.  
More Research is Required.

Entry 569-  
Task: Secret Power  
Result: failure  
Notes: Secret Power seems to only adapt to certain surroundings, even man-made ones, but simply doesn’t work within the text surrounding. Fresher material may be needed.  
More Research is Required.

Entry 582-  
Task: Research  
Result: ???  
Notes: Ditto can have been known to replicate humans, though difficult to find when they do.  
More Research is Required.

Entry 600-  
Task: Problem  
Result: Failure  
Notes: Main Problem has been solved by pokemon, but not by humanity. Main Problem must be solved.  
More Research is Required.

Entry 610-  
Task: Elemental Absorption  
Result: ???  
Notes: Absorption is a multi-element phenomenon that appears for only the more natural elements. Why only those and how?  
More Research is Required.

Entry 623-  
Task: Elemental Absorption  
Result: Success  
Notes: Absorption can affect non-poke-based objects. This seems counter-intuitive, why would pokemon develop absorption that cannot be used on their environment and only as a defense?  
More Research is Required.

Entry 629-  
Task: Elemental Absorption  
Result: Failure  
Notes: Absorption modification proving difficult.  
More Research is Required.

Entry 630-  
Task: Elemental Absorption  
Result: Failure  
Notes: Absorption is innate and occurs while pokemon is not aware of the element but it will not function when it is unconscious.  
More Research is Required.

Entry 650-  
Task: Elemental Absorption  
Result: Failure  
Notes: Partial Absorption of elements in state transition can occur depending on circumstance.  
More Research is Required.

Entry 660-  
Task: Elemental Absorption  
Result: Success  
Notes: Partial Absorption of partial combination elemental attacks. Seems that as long as there is part of the required material it can be absorbed regardless of interference.  
More Research is Required.

Entry 663-  
Task: Elemental Absorption  
Result: Success  
Notes: Modification through usage of interference may allow for interference absorption and modification of absorption properties.  
More Research is Required.

Entry 666-  
Task: Elemental Absorption  
Result: Failure  
Notes: Human is currently not a valid element or environment. All research possibilities are exhausted to isolate pokemon traits and actions that cannot be performed by humans even partially.  
More Research is Required.

THE GENESECT ARE REQUIRED.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As I mentioned in the notes at the end of Volume 1 somewhere, I rolled a new character for Volume 2. However, Arlon is not out of the picture and returned as a recurring NPC that can provide the party with information. I worked closely with the GM to use Arlon to set up a starting point for us in Volume 2, as I mentioned in the notes at the end of the second part of Seeing Red. Armstrong gave us a lead on Mr. Silver and Gilgamesh gave the other player characters a reason to go to my new character’s planet so I can join the party again. One thing I do want to mention is that Arlon’s activities since leaving the party were later greatly expanded upon in the mini-series Seeing Red. The information in this story in particular is covered in greater detail in the first two parts, which you have already read since I've put everything in this series in the order I feel it is best read in.
> 
> Morgan's player would like to note that she was trying to portray Morgan as dealing with PTSD from her experiences in Volume 1.
> 
> Shane’s player wants to point out that there is a secret message embedded in the text in case you didn’t pick up on it. It reads: Not only with the warp would Shane realize that almost all efforts to understand the mark were futile but nothing was as painful to Shane as his purpose and his origin.
> 
> In case you couldn’t tell, H's story is just his research log. It seems to start around when our adventures first began and continues up to just before the start of Volume 2 proper. Gotta love his thought process. Kudos to his player for taking the time to draft it up.


	25. Volume 2, Chapter 1: Venture to Vandia, Part I

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Searching for Gilgamesh, the Helix crew winds up on a backwater Sinai world.

The _UAS Helix_ flies past the majestic purplish-blue gas giant Arda as it enters the Togan System in Sinai Space. The frigate’s powerful engines propel the ship through space toward the mid-orbit planet Vandia, which slowly fades into view. A brilliant orange and purple light seems to radiate off the planet as the _Helix_ approaches the terrestrial world. 

Due to their psychic abilities, both Morgan and Dmitri experience an ever-growing feeling of uneasiness as they approach the planet. A dreadful feeling that something is watching the _Helix_. Suddenly, the ship starts to rumble as it is hit with laser fire.

“Oh God, what was that!?” Shane shouts as he flails his arms around the ship's controls, trying to dodge out of the way of the incoming fire. Due to his inexperience as a pilot, he fails, and the _Helix_ is shot again and starts tumbling towards the planet.

“Shane what are you doing up there?! I have very delicate subjects I’m working on!” H shouts over the comms. “Fly straight!”

“I’m trying! We’re being-”

“Don’t care!”

“Huh…” Shane sighs. “Where’s Arlon when you need him?”

Morgan checks the radar and detects a very low profile ship flying behind the _Helix_. It is not broadcasting any sort of call sign whatsoever, which is quite unsettling for the crew of the _Helix_. Dmitri activates the guns and prepares to fire back at their pursuers.

“H, get to guns, Goddamn it!” Shane shouts over the comms as he attempts to wrestle with the controls to pull the _Helix_ out of its tumbling. He is able to get the ship back under a bit more control and back on track toward Vandia so they can make an emergency landing.

“Fine…” H replies. He makes his way to the bridge, keeping his feet magnetized to the floor to keep himself from being thrown about by the turbulence.

Dmitri takes aim at the ship, and, looking at it through the viewfinder, he can see a small freighter with guns mounted on it. The ship is black and completely unmarked although it appears to be a bit damaged.

H stumbles onto the bridge, looking quite annoyed and sees Shane flailing his arms around at the helm, Morgan trying to hail the ship unsuccessfully, and Dmitri taking aim. He takes a seat at the other set of gun controls and also takes aim at the hostile ship.

Morgan attempts to hack into the ship’s systems and finds it surprisingly easy. The architecture doesn’t seem to be very well maintained at all. She attempts to open up a comm channel so that the crew can figure out what is going on.

In the meantime, Dmitri and H focus fire on one of the ship's engines and slice it right off! It still maintains its course, flying directly at the _Helix_  despite losing an engine and venting atmosphere. It fires a volley of shots in response but they completely miss and fly off toward the planet’s surface.

Morgan successfully breaks into the comm systems and brings it up on the viewscreen. Surprisingly there doesn’t appear to be anyone on the bridge of the ship that is shooting them.

“Hello!?” Morgan shouts at whoever might be listening on the other end. “What. The. Fuck?!”

Looking more closely, while there is no one at the comm station or the captain’s chair, Morgan is able to see a few people standing around. They appear very ragged, worn down, and _empty_.

“Uh, guys, this is kinda weird,” Morgan tells her crewmates. “I don’t think these people are okay.”

“Well, they’re still shooting at us,” Dmitri tells her.

“Which engine fell off!?” Shane asks.

“Right!” H yells.

“Their right or your right?!”

“Their right!”

Shane makes an attempt to steer towards the port side and evade their pursuers as they would have a tougher time turning that way having lost their main starboard engine. He manages to make the maneuver, but the _Helix_ is hit in the process and the shields are taken offline.

The _Helix_ ’s gunners return fire! H lands a shot with the plasma beam right where the starboard engine used to be. Dmitri’s shot goes flying past the ship and hits the severed engine in a satisfying explosion that rocks the ship. The “zombie” ship attempts to fire back, but misses once again. Dmitri lands a shot on the port engine and it starts sputtering a bit. H then slashes across the bridge with the plasma beam and destroys it!

The remaining engines flare up and it looks like the ship is going to attempt to ram the surface of the planet! H fires another shot with the plasma beam and slices through the back half of the ship. Fuel and coolant start leaking out. Dmitri aims for the leakage, and lands a shot with the photon lasers, igniting the fuel and blowing the remains of the ship to smithereens! Unfortunately the force of the explosion destabilizes the _Helix_ and sends it tumbling toward the surface of Vandia!

* * *

It’s just another boring day for Alex as she heads for Khirpai, a small city on the planet Vandia. Another day scouring the streets for scrap metal and Pokeball parts, anything that might be useful or make the young teenager some money. Running through the farms on the outskirts of town, Alex stops when a volley of laser fire suddenly comes hurdling down from the sky, kicking up huge clouds of dust as they strike the ground around her.

“What the hell?” she asks aloud as she looks up towards the sky. She can see bright flashes of light up in the clouds and knows that she is witnessing her first space battle in person. Although it’s not quite as exciting as what she has seen in the movies, this is still the most interesting thing to have happened to her in years!

Suddenly a massive explosion lights the sky and, shortly after, Alex sees a ship break through the atmosphere, tumbling and turning, upside down relative to the planet. She sees it right itself and stabilize right before hitting the ground and sliding across the field of cabbages  on its port side, leaving a mile-long trench behind it. The ship breaks through the fence and stops just feet away from her.

“Cool...” is the single word that escapes her mouth as she stares in wonder at what she has just witnessed.

* * *

The crew of the _Helix_ breathes a collective sigh of relief as the ship grinds to halt, safely landing on the planet with only some hull damage. Looking out the front viewport, they see that they have landed in a farm on the outskirts of a city. The large buildings loom way off in the distance.

H hurries off to check up on the Genesect specimens that he has been keeping in cold storage while the rest of the crew disembarks to investigate the damage to the ship. There appears to be quite a bit of damage to the hull along the port side. As they near the front of the ship, they see a singular girl standing and staring in awe.

She appears to be a young teenager of Sinai descent, but a quick look at her features tells that she definitely has some Alliance or Genevan blood in her. Her long dark hair is pulled back into a loose ponytail and messy bangs hang down over her big brown eyes. Her jeans, loose fitting top, and elbow-high fingerless gloves look very dirty and covered with several small rips and tears.

Shane gives her a glance, but pays no mind and continues surveying the damage. Morgan, however, seems more interested.

“Hey, who are you?” Morgan asks the girl.

“Who are _you?_ ” she responds. “You fell from the sky! Why is your hair blue?” she then asks, turning to Shane, who continues to ignore her.

“Have you never seen a ship before?” Morgan asks.

“Not one that exploded and crashed in front of my face!”

“Yeah, well it wasn’t exactly planned,” Morgan tells her.

Suddenly H emerges from the ship and the girl seems very confused by his appearance. “Why… why isn’t he wearing any pants?” she asks. She notices that the crew doesn’t really seem to notice. “No seriously, like, why isn’t he wearing pants?”

“That’s not really any of your business,” Morgan tells her.

“What’s up with your arm?” the girl asks Shane, getting all up in his face and completely ignoring Morgan. “It’s all, like, glowy and shit.”

“It’s not really any of your business,” Morgan says again, sounding a bit more annoyed now.

“You almost crashed a ship into me!” the girl says to her, pointing a finger right in her face. “Bullshit it’s not my business!”

“Well we’d like to be going now if-”

“Going where? I don’t think you’re going anywhere with this piece of shit.”

“You said you never…”

“Never what?”

“Do _you_ have a ship?”

“ _Maybe_.”

“You’re just a kid. Just shut up.”

“C'mon guys, let’s just go to the city and fix our ship,” Shane says to the crew, trying to calm the tensions.

“No seriously, I have a ship,” the girl continues to insist. “Well, half a ship anyway. It crashed over there and I found it. The point is I have lots of scrap. I can help you.”

“I would really rather not trust this child,” Morgan says to Shane.

“Who are you calling a child!? Blue over there doesn’t look any older than I am!”

“Didn’t you hear me say it’s none of your business?”

“What’s your problem? I’m trying to be nice here!”

“Oh, no one really knows,” H tells her.

“She’s always like this,” Dmitri chimes in

“So she was born with a stick up her ass?”

“Alright, that does it!” Morgan yells angrily.

“You’re gonna regret saying that,” Shane warns the girl, knowing what’s about to come.

Using her psionic abilities, Morgan blasts who she finds to be an incredibly annoying girl with psychic energy!

“Ow! What the fuck was that!? Why did you do that to me!?” the girl shouts at her, a pained tone in her voice. She lunges at Morgan, and tries to punch her in the face.

Morgan steps to the side, and the girl's fist collides with her shoulder. She then reaches for one of her Pokeballs. In response, the girl grabs four Pokeballs off her belt, two in each hand, and prepares to throw them.

“Guess what, I have a Pokeball too,” says H.

“H don’t get involved,” Shane warns him. He then steps between the two hot-headed girls and tries to break up the situation before it gets any worse. Shane grabs the teenager with his marked hand, and she gets a very confused look on her face. To her it feels like a dry wetness.

They still seem to be going at i,t so H angrily rips a piece of broken panelling off the ship and lifts it up in the air. “STOP IT! WE’RE BUSY AT THE MOMENT! OR I’LL HIT YOU WITH THIS!”

“She started it,” the girl jabs at Morgan.

“GUYS, CAN WE JUST STOP!?” Shane yells at everyone.

“But I have this piece of side paneling, what am I going to do with it now?” H asks.

“Go build another of your Goddamn augmentations or whatever,” Shane tells him.

“It’s useless now,” H says, throwing it aside.

“Shouldn’t you go back to your parents or something?” Morgan asks the girl, trying to get rid of her.

“What parents?” the girl asks.

“Uh… parents. Like normal kids have.”

“I… don’t have parents…” the girl says, the expression on her face suddenly turning quite sad.

“Well that’s wonderful!” says H.

“Where do you live?” Morgan asks, feeling kind of guilty now.

“In a crashed ship. I told you that.”

“Look, we really don’t have time for this. We just want to get our ship fixed so we’re gonna go to the city and do that,” Morgan explains. She then heads out with Dmitri and H to look for somewhere they can purchase some scrap metal to repair the _Helix_.

Shane stays behind to keep an eye on the ship. He looks around for a moment and notices that the strange girl has disappeared.

* * *

_Who does that girl think she is?_ Alex thinks as she runs along, following after the crew from the ship as they head into town to get supplies. _I was just trying to be helpful and all that bitch did was yell at me and call me a child! But these people are my best chance to get off this damn planet_.

Alex follows them into town, sneaking along on the rooftops as she is prone to do. She sees them go into a scrap dealer’s shop and soon grows bored waiting for them. Alex makes her way back to the crashed ship to go see what the blue-haired guy is up to. He seemed like the most interesting one of the bunch anyway.

“Hi!” she says excitedly as she approaches the blue-haired guy. He looks at her, and then back at the ship and then walks away and onto the ship. Alex follows him inside.

“Why are you here anyway?” Alex asks. _What’s this guy’s deal?_ she thinks. _Why isn’t he saying anything?_ “Hey! I’m talkin’ to you! What are you doing here? Why is your friend such a jerk? What’s up with the guy with no pants? Are you even listening to me?”

Alex follows the guy right up to a room, which he then enters and shuts the door in her face.

“Fine! I didn’t want to talk to you anyway!” Alex yells sarcastically through the door before running off to explore the ship. She pokes her head in a few doors but nothing seems interesting. That is until she comes across a heavy security door with lots of warnings on it.

“That looks interesting,” she says to herself before moving on.

Alex continues to poke around until she comes across what appears to be a Pokeball workshop of some kind, which catches her eye since she is quite knowledgeable when it comes to Pokeballs. “ _Oooooh!_ ” She squeals in delight as she starts rummaging through the Pokeballs scattered throughout the room from the crash but soon her excitement is dissipated when she finds the designs to be subpar by her standards. “Lame. Boring. Amateurish,” she says as she tosses aside Pokeballs after examining them.

Eventually the blue-haired guy enters the room, looking like he has spent a great deal of time trying to locate Alex.

“Okay, as much as I don’t want to answer your questions, I really don’t want you wandering around the ship,” he tells her.

“But I wasn’t wandering. I was in here,” Alex points out.

“I wouldn’t touch some of those if I were you,” he tells her, noticing the Pokeballs in her hands. “H has… a problem…”

“Who’s H?”

“You know, the weird guy in the lab coat.”

“Oh, you mean the guy with no pants?”

“Yeah… Anyway, some of those are kind of dangerous.”

“Nah. These are kind of amateurish.”

“Oh, you wouldn’t know the half of it.”

“I know right? What was he thinking? These aren’t hack-proof or zombie-proof!”

“Zombie-proof?”

“Yes. Y'know, for when you need to protect your Pokemon from the zombie Pokemon!”

“Here. Open this,” the blue-haired guy tells her, handing her a Pokeball.

“Why?”

“Just do it.”

Alex looks at the ball for a moment before chucking it at the wall. It explodes and string shot goes everywhere.

“Boring! I could make that in my sleep.”

“That is one of the milder effects of these. You really shouldn’t be messing around with them.”

“Oh, I’ve made things far more dangerous than that before.”

“Like what?”

“Like this one,” Alex says, pulling a Pokeball out of her bag. She throws it at the wall and a blast of electricity bursts out, sending sparks flying everywhere.

“I see your point, but still, you shouldn’t be messing around with these.”

“But I do it all the time.”

“ _Really_ …” the blue-haired guy says, putting a hand on her shoulder. “We just met you and I’d rather not share our entire personal lives with you.”

Suddenly, they warp out of the room and appear in a different room.

“Woah, what the fuck just happened!?” asks a very confused Alex.

“It’s a long story,” he says before walking out of the room.

“Wait! You need to tell me what that was!” Alex shouts as she follows him out of the room and off the ship.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So there you have it, a first look at my new character. As you can see, she's quite different from Arlon. Speaking of Arlon, you can also see the crew struggling to deal with the fact that the only person really capable of flying the ship is gone!
> 
> This session marked the beginning of me recording the audio for each session to use as a reference for writing. It dramatically helped to improve the writing quality. It also helped to really increase the length of chapters. This session ended up being split into three chapters.


	26. Volume 2, Chapter 2: Venture to Vandia, Part II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Helix crew reluctantly follows Alex through the ruins on Vandia when she claims Gilgamesh visited them.

“What’s the situation?” Shane asks his newly returned crewmates with their collection of scrap metal.

“Well, we have the scrap metal we need,” Morgan tells him.

“And we can get the hull repaired enough so we can take off again,” H adds.

“So, should we just repair our ship and get out of here then?” Shane asks.

“Well, we still have her to deal with,” H tells him, pointing at the girl who still seems to be following them around.

“So, how about you tell me what you’re doing here already. You clearly aren’t here to see the sights,” the girl chimes in.

“I don’t really know,” says H. “What are we doing here?”

“We came here to look for someone,” says Morgan.

“Who?” the girl asks.

“You wouldn’t know him. He’s a monk.”

“There’s lots of monks here… What does he look like?”

“Bald. Long beard. Flowing black robes.”

“I saw a guy like that the other day. He went in there,” the girl says, pointing at the ruins in the distance.

“Yeah, I’m sure he came out again,” Morgan says, sounding annoyed again. “Do you know where he went after that?”

“No, but he went _there_.”

“Let’s go check it out,” Dmitri suggests.

“It will take the bot a while to repair the ship anyway, so we might as well,” Morgan agrees.

And with that the crew follows the strange girl as she leads them off towards the ruins.

“They call these the Sunset Plains,” the girl tells them as they walk through the open fields, the sunlight barely breaking above the horizon in the distance. “Aren’t they pretty?”

“Is the sun setting at all times or something?” H asks.

“Due to the planet’s weird rotation, this region is in a perpetual state of sunset or sunrise.”

Before the conversation can progress further, a wild Pumpkaboo runs past with an Absol in pursuit. Dmitri immediately throws a Great Ball at the Absol and successfully captures it. 

“Goddamn it, I wanted that,” Shane tells him.

“NOOOOOO!” The girl shouts. “I’ve been chasing that Absol for weeks!”

Morgan, Shane, and the girl send out Croconaw, Klefki, and Espurr to try and weaken the Pumpkaboo for a capture. They exchange a few blows but the Pumpkaboo proves resistant, using Absorb to keep itself going. Dmitri sends out his Scyther to help but ends up accidentally knocking it out.

“Damn…” Shane grumbles.

“Sorry about that,” Dmitri tells him.

“Don’t worry about it,” Shane replies

“Alright let’s head for the ruins,” says Dmitri.

“Sure. Let’s go to the ruins,” says H. “Nothing bad can happen.”

Dmitri suspects that H is being sarcastic so he attempts to read his mind. He gets a brief burst of thoughts from H: Ruins. Information in ruins. _Information useful in ruins. Ruins dangerous. Dangerous in ruins. Information in ruins? Possibly yes, go to ruins. Go to ruins._

“So when was Gilgamesh here?” Morgan asks the girl as they walk along towards the ruins. “When did he leave?”

“A couple weeks ago.”

“Did he say why he was here? Did anyone know why?”

“No. He was just... _there_. I don’t know. I didn’t talk to him. I just saw him.”

“Well that’s useful,” mumbles Shane.

“I can’t help but wonder why you’re still following us,” says Dmitri.

“Yup,” Shane agrees.

“Because you’re interesting,” she tells them. “There’s nothing to do here. You’re the most interesting people I’ve met in my life! So why are you looking for this Gilgamesh guy anyway? What’s so important about him?”

“We have some questions for him,” says Morgan.

“What kind of questions?”

“Things you wouldn’t understand.”

“I know you’re lying.”

“Does it really matter? Do you want me to hurt you again?”

“Like you could.”

The rest of the walk is spent in cold silence until they reach the ruins. As they start getting close, they start to see people; mostly tourists and a few monks. As they arrive at the ruins, Shane becomes very much aware of the strange and quite obvious mark on his arm and tries to hide it as they move through the crowd.

“What are you doing?” the girl asks.

“Look we just don’t want people asking questions,” Morgan tells her.

“But questions are fun!”

“Questions _are_ fun!” H agrees.

“Not when you have to answer them,” Morgan says, sounding annoyed once again.

“But answering them is the fun,” says H.

“H, shut up. You’re not helping,” Shane tells him.

“Well answer this question,” Morgan tells the girl. “What’s your name anyway?”

“Alex,” the girl tells her.

As they get close to the ruins, a small group of confused tourists approach and start talking to Alex. “Excuse me, Miss, are you a tour guide?” one of them asks.

“Sure!” Alex says enthusiastically, though the crew can tell that she is clearly lying.

“And you’re all here for the tour as well right?” the guy then asks the _Helix_ crew.

“Something like that,” Morgan tells him.

“I think we found the rest of the tour group,” the tourists say amongst themselves.

“This is totally the tour group!” Alex says.

“See! I told you! There’s nothing to worry about,” the man says to his companions.

“Actually we’re a group of random travelers who happened to crash here-” H starts.

“Shhh,” Alex hisses at him, elbowing him in the stomach. “Alright if you’ll follow me we will begin the tour!”

“Great. What can you tell us about this temple?”

“These ruins scattered throughout the Sunset Plains are believed to be the remnants of a city left behind by an ancient race of Angels, the chosen people of God. Some say that the Angels were chosen by God to ascend to the heavens and become messengers and guardians to the inheritors, that would be us, of what they left behind.”

“So I’m an Angel?” H blurts out.

“No,” Alex tells him sternly.

“Yes.”

“What is his deal exactly?” one of the tourists asks.

“He’s a crazy hobo who followed us,” Shane tells him while glaring angrily at the girl who actually had been following them.

“Disregard their opinions for I am the chosen one who will bring the people and all Humanity to salvation!” H proclaims.

“Alright, let’s move on,” says Alex, as she continues to lead the tour. “Monks and archaeologists have spent years uncovering the secrets that were left behind. This site in particular is some sort of temple.”

“What kind of secrets?”

“Y'know, secret secrets. Lost writings and stories. That kind of stuff. Such as this mural here! It shows the birth of Man and Pokemon who were born from the Tree of Knowledge and the Tree of Life, planted and curated by the Angels.”

The Mural in question depicts a stoic figure and his Pokemon companion, encroached on all sides by clawing darkness. A radiant hand whose fingers loosely resemble branches reaches down to them from above.  An inscription at the base of the mural reads: _Approx. 92 million years_.

“What are all those dark things surrounding them?”

“No one can say for sure. Some say that they are evil spirits that wiped out the Angels. But that’s kind of a dark theory. Another theory in a similar vein I find intriguing is that these Angels, whoever they were, were highly advanced and eventually their technology surpassed them and spawned legions of murderous machine-men who wiped them all out. But no one can say for sure what really happened.”

“So how old are these ruins?” the tourist asks, trying to ignore the absurdity that just came out of his guide’s mouth.

“No one can say for sure, but they were here long before Humanity ever reached this planet. Most estimates are around ninety-two-million years or older.”

“Wait…” says Shane. “If these were here long before Humanity reached the planet then why is Humanity depicted in the mural?”

“That’s a good question,” one of the tourists agrees. “What he said.”

“Well, if the Angels were chosen to watch over Humanity as believed, why wouldn’t they depict them in their murals? Legends say that Humanity was born from the Tree of Knowledge which was planted by the Angels themselves!”

“You’re a terrible tour guide!” H shouts, and several of the tourists nod in agreement.

“Archaeologists have spent decades researching this stuff but there is still so much they have yet to discover! I can’t tell you what no one has figured out yet!”

“I heard they carbon dated this site to about ninety-two-million years old which is long before Humanity would ever have been here,” says one snarky tourist wearing a fedora and stroking his impressive neck-beard.

“Look, I said Humanity didn’t need to have been on this planet for the Angels to have known of our existence!”

“In both truth and reality these humanoids aren’t Humans, they are superior!” H declares. “They are the next generation that were lost and just now being discovered and I am one of these humanoids.”

“Yeah, keep on telling yourself that,” Alex says in a very sarcastic tone.

“I call bullshit!” the snarky tourist speaks up. “Humans didn’t evolve from Mankies until, you know, like six-million years ago! What do you have to say to that, huh?”

“That’s an assumption based on a primitive theory that existed long before Humanity ever reached for the stars! You came here for a tour to learn about Sinai culture and history and you’re being kinda culturally insensitive.”

“We’re so sorry about him,” one of the other tourists apologizes to Alex.

After the tourists calm down again, Alex leads everyone further into the ruins, passing by several monks and archaeologists.

“Here you can see a group of monks and archaeologists working together to decipher these wall writings,” She informs the tour group. 

“What are they looking at now?”

“Just some recently uncovered writings. They’re still trying to figure out what it says. If you come this way you can see more of this new area which leads to a very recently discovered room.”

Alex leads everyone into what is, in fact, a newly uncovered section of the ruins. There isn’t much to do on Vandia so Alex often spent her days walking around the ruins, posing as a tour guide. She is well aware that this is the most recent discovery in the ruins. The room is mostly full of dust and rocks but there is one mural that depicted some form of ancient star map.

“This is an ancient star map that depicts a group of star systems in relation to the galactic core. The researchers have only just begun to analyze this map, but the prevailing theory right now is that other sites such as this one exist in the depicted locations.”

“I see…” says one of the tourists.

“The belief is that these sites may contain even more secrets and lost technologies that we can only hope to imagine,” Alex continues.

“And no one goes there because?”

“Because this mural was just discovered,” Alex tells the tourist

“Oh,” he says, realizing the stupidity of his question.

“Can we help you?” an archaeologist asks, approaching the group. “We're still excavating this area so, if at all possible, we’d like to get back to it.”

“Just giving the tour!” Alex says. “It’s time we moved on anyway.”

“So when did they discover this room?” One of the tourists asks.

“Not too long ago,” Alex tells him, recalling that the room had first been discovered around the time that Gilgamesh visited. “Only in the last few weeks.” If this Gilgamesh is as important as the crew of the crashed ship seems to think, it can’t be a coincidence.

Morgan seems to pick up on the similar time frame Alex provided for when Gilgamesh was here and when the room was discovered and asks one of the archaeologists about him as Alex leads the group out of the room.

“He was here around when we started digging up the room, yeah. He took a good look at this and then left,” he tells her.

“He didn’t happen to mention where he was going did he?”

“No, I’m afraid not.”

“And that brings us to the end of the tour!” Alex declares, as she leads the tour group back out to the exterior of the ruins.

“See, I told you there would be nothing bad in the ruins,” H tells everyone in earshot.

“Thank you for visiting,” Alex tells the tourists, attempting to sound as charming as possible. “I hope you enjoyed the tour.” She is successfully able to extract two-hundred-twenty-five credits worth of tips from the unwitting tourists.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More of Alex's interesting character has come to light. I really put in the effort to make her more interesting than Arlon was when I ran him as my character. However, Arlon became pretty interesting in his own right in the actually story as compared to the actual game sessions. Right off the bat, I was having more fun with Alex than Arlon, and I enjoyed the challenge of RPing a character quite different from myself. However, it doesn't really seem like the other player characters are too fond of her, at least not yet. The players themselves did enjoy her from the beginning though.


	27. Volume 2, Chapter 3: Venture to Vandia, Part III

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things get heated on the Helix when the crew finds that Alex stowed away on the ship when it left Vandia.

Alex follows the crew of the crashed ship back to the landing site where the ship is now ready to take off once again. It still seems to Alex like they are trying to get rid of her which is a bit of a problem for her. These people are her best chance to finally get some answers to her many questions.

“I want to go with you,” Alex tells the crew as they begin to board their ship.

“I don’t think we should take her with us,” the guy with the Romanov accent says to his crewmates.

“I don’t either,” the mean girl agrees,

“Sorry kid,” the blue-haired guy tells Alex. “You’re not coming with us.”

They turn and board the ship, leaving Alex behind.

“I am _not_ staying on this planet,” Alex says to herself. She looks around for a way to sneak aboard the ship. She notices a broken section of the hull and manages to slip in, just sliding through the airlock before it closes.

Wandering around the ship, Alex finds her way to the bridge and notices everyone is there. Probably not the place to be just yet. Luckily for her, they don’t notice her and she is able to slip away again. She finds her way back to the labs and from there ends up by the personal crew quarters. Four of the doors are locked tight but the fifth is open and is pretty much empty.

The ship starts to rumble as it takes off and Alex gets knocked into the room. Regaining her balance, Alex sits down on the bed and holds on tight while the ship breaks out of the atmosphere. Once things settle down, she gets up and looks out the view port.

“Wow…” Alex says in wonder as she looks out into space. She reaches for a Pokeball on her belt and releases her Umbreon, who she then picks up off the ground and holds up to the view port. “Check it out Ebony, we’re in space!” The Umbreon reaches out and attempts to bat at the viewport with her paw. “Isn’t it cool?” Alex asks her Pokemon.

Suddenly the ship makes the jump to warp space and the Umbreon starts squirming, kind of freaked out by the strange sight. “Calm down girl, I think we jumped to warp space or whatever it’s called. It can’t hurt you in here. C’mon, let’s go check out the rest of the ship.” Alex and Ebony wander through the ship, passing through the shield room and the cafeteria before ending up back in the labs again.

“This door looks interesting,” Alex says to her Umbreon, referring to the secured door she saw when she was on the ship the first time. “Let’s see what’s going on in here.” She prys the keypad off the wall and is quickly able to hotwire the door to open as she is quite skilled with technology.

The door slides open and Alex steps inside. The room is pretty empty except for the back wall which is lined with cryotubes. Two of them contain what look like some kind of cybernetic insect Pokemon. “Woah, it’s like out of a movie or something,” Alex says aloud. “What’s going on here?” She hacks into the computer nearby and starts perusing the data on these creatures. “Genesect, huh? These are like cyborg murder machines! Why do they have these here?”

Suddenly, Alex hears clanking footsteps outside the room. “Oh, shit.” She quickly recalls her Umbreon and looks for a place to hide. She squeezes behind the empty cryotube before realizing that it’s transparent and not actually hiding her. The guy Blue called H runs into the room and sees her and thinks she is inside the tube.

“Get out of there! What are you doing in there?!” He runs over to the console he starts opening the tube.

“H what are you doing? She’s _behind_ the tube,” Blue says as he enters the room.

“She’s in my cryotube! She needs to get out of the cryotube!”

Blue reaches behind the tube and pulls Alex out. She tries to kick him to break free, but she is unable to land a blow. “Let go of me!” She shouts at him.

“Oh,” says H, realizing that Alex is, in fact, not inside the cryotube.

Alex grabs two Pokeballs off her belt and out pop her Umbreon and her Lampent, causing Blue to release her.

“No, no, no. Not in here. Not in here!” H shouts. “Move! Out! Now! Any form of damage the Genesect endure… There’s a reason this door is locked!”

Alex starts backing out of the room, keeping her Pokemon between her and them. The two follow her and with each step they take toward her she takes another step away. Eventually they end up in the cargo hold. Blue suddenly vanishes and reappears behind Alex.

“What the hell?” Alex asks in distress. She positions herself between her Pokemon with Lampent staring down Blue who has sent out a Kelfi and Umbreon looking at H who has sent out a Helioptile.

“Lumiera, Flame Burst!” Alex shouts, pointing at the Klefki. The Lampent launches a small jet of blue flame at the Klefki. The burst hits it dead on and knocks it out. “Hah,” Alex says, a smirk appearing on her face.

Just then the Romanov runs into the room and throws out a Pokeball. A Gyarados bursts out, its long form wrapping around some nearby crates.

“Go #6, use your Thundershock on the Lampent!” H commands his Helioptile. The Pokemon nods and charges up some electricity which it then blasts at the ghostly lamp.

“Ebony, use Faint Attack!” Alex commands her Umbreon. She charges into the Helioptile and the two bash into the side of a nearby crate.

H starts charging up some electricity in his arm to power up his next attack. Suspecting this, Alex runs up to him and confides a secret in him, one that deeply unsettles him. “The zombie Pokemon are coming. You should be afraid.” He is so disturbed that he grapples his feet to the ceiling and pulls himself up to escape and continue commanding his Pokemon from out of Alex’s reach.

“Quick, now use Flame Burst Lumiera!” Alex tells her Lampent. The ghostly lamp Pokemon sends another lick of flame, this time at the Helioptile which is just now getting up after being slammed into the crate, and takes it out of commission. A smug look crosses Alex’s face as she feels she is close to victory. It is quickly wiped away however, as Blue sends out a Clefable.

“R.A.G.E., use Dazzling Gleam on that Umbreon!” A brilliant blast of light flies out from the Clefable and crashes into Ebony. The Umbreon takes the hit but she looks worn down.

“Ness, Waterfall,” The Romanov instructs his Gyarados. The massive sea beast rears its head up in the air and then crashes its weight down on Lumiera, knocking the Lampent out of the fight.

“No!” Alex yells, now very distraught. One second it seemed like she was close to clinching victory and the next she was totally outnumbered! “Ebony, Faint Attack that monster!” She shouts, pointing at the massive Gyarados in front of her.

The Umbreon runs at the Gyarados and leaps into the air, crashing into the side of his head, knocking the giant Pokemon to the ground. The Gyarados picks itself back up and lets out a thunderously angry roar. It is clearly very pissed off.

But not as pissed off as H. Rage burns in his eyes as he sends a blast of electricity down from the ceiling, zapping Alex. Her body spasms as waves of electricity flow through her body. She falls to her knees, looking rather shaken from the attack.

“R.A.G.E., use Sing!” Shane commands his Clefable. The Clefable hums a soothing melody that puts Ebony to sleep. Defeated, Alex recalls her Pokemon. “How did I lose?”

* * *

Morgan sits on the bridge, quite focused on her work. Gilgamesh had clearly gone to Vandia and investigated the star map. If she can just decipher it she will be able to find Gilgamesh. She had been so intent on solving this puzzle that she hadn’t noticed that Shane or Dmitri had gone missing from the bridge. Her concentration is finally broken when she hears Dmitri’s voice over the comms.

“Morgan, you might want to come down to the cargo bay.”

“What? What do you want?” Morgan asks, quite annoyed by the interruption.

“Just get down here.”

“Fine.”

Morgan makes her way down to the cargo hold and the site she sees when she gets there sends her over the edge. “How did _she_ get in here!?”

“Do not know,” says H, charging up for another shot. “But she will _not_ be here much longer!”

“H. Please don’t do that,” Morgan tells him.

“She’ll just be unconscious. She will feel nothing when **jettisoned into space**.”

A look of horror appears on Alex’s face and she reaches for her other Pokeballs and starts backing away.

“H,” Morgan says sternly. “It’s wrong to kill people no matter how much we may hate them.”

“But she broke into our stuff. And we killed the people who shot at us earlier. We’ve been killing a lot. It’s what we do whether we accept it or not. Now let’s knock her unconscious! I will not have my perfection disturbed!”

“No,” says Shane, teleporting himself between H and Alex, looking H right in the eye.

“Yes.”

“No.”

“Stop it H,” Morgan says coldly, sending out her Pikachu.

“As much as we wouldn’t like her on board,” says Shane. “She is now so… unfortunately, she’s staying.”

“And she will soon be off.”

“You remember how well that worked with me, don’t you?”

“Well yes, but you’re my rival and I refuse to have multiple rivals unless something else changes, but at the moment I only have one rival.”

And with that, H grapples back up to the ceiling and charges up another blast of electricity. Seeing this, Alex turns and runs at full speed but it is not enough.

“No!” Morgan yells at H as the lightning strikes Alex in the back. “Jean, Volt Tackle now!”

Alex lets out an excruciatingly pained scream of anguish before collapsing on the ground unconscious. Jean slams into H, his numerous cybernetic augmentations overloading and shutting down due to the volts of electricity now coursing through them. With his magnetic feet shut down, H falls from the ceiling and lands on his head and is knocked unconscious.

“Shane, Dmitri, restrain him,” Morgan instructs her crewmates. “I’ll take her to the med bay.”

Morgan quickly rushes Alex to the medbay where she is greeted by the new medical bot that she created. “Greetings master Morgan. How may I assist you?” it asks in its computerized voice.

“MARIA, access identity logs,” Morgan instructs as she lays Alex on the table. “Register new person. Name: Alex. Priority: 3. Assist. Administer sedatives, keep asleep as long as medically advisable.”

Once MARIA gets to work, Morgan decides it’s a good time to look through Alex’s things to see if she can find out anything about their new passenger. Looking through Alex’s bag, Morgan comes across various Pokeball parts, Pokeballs, potions, and a Pokedex.

Meanwhile in the lab, Dmitri and Shane have restrained H and secured him to a pole so that he can’t harm Alex. He starts coming to, and he looks angry.

“Where did she go?”

“None of your business,” Shane tells him coldly.

“Of course it’s my business. She messed with my business so I will mess with her business.”

Back in the med bay, Morgan begins searching through Alex’s Pokedex for additional information about her. The Dex is registered to an Alexandria Hawthorne, a sixteen year-old girl of mixed Genevan and Sinai parentage. Based on the files on the Pokedex, including bits of old news articles and Alex’s personal journal entries, Morgan pieces together that Alex is the daughter of Dr. Robert Hawthorne, a renowned Genevan archaeologist, one of the best in his field. He mysteriously vanished around twelve years ago. Morgan was only eight at the time, but, being from Geneva herself, she remembers it being a big deal in the news. It seems like Alex has been almost entirely on her own since then.

“That explains why this girl is so maladjusted,” Morgan says to herself. She now feels quite sorry for Alex.

Looking through a few more journal entries, Morgan discovers that Alex has been pursuing leads about her father’s disappearance. She recently discovered that he had been looking for something known as “the Mirror” at the time of his disappearance. This lead had convinced Alex that she needed to leave Vandia to find answers.

“That explains why she snuck onto the ship,” Morgan mumbles. She glances over at the girl, still lying unconscious on the table. They are going to have a _very_ serious conversation when she wakes up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys, why are you being so mean? Guys, I’m just trying to join the party. GUYS!
> 
> Goddamn they did not want to accept a new character. RP is getting in the way of the plot! The entire session was spent trying to join the party and technically I still hadn't joined it at the end of the session. Apparently the other characters are very resistant to bringing new people into the fold. Where’s Arlon Jett when you need him? I bet Shane wouldn't have made it on the party without him! He would recognize and appreciate Alex’s resourcefulness and I don’t just say that because I play both characters.
> 
> All that aside, it was great to get back to this campaign! I think my new character will prove more interesting than my last for readers. I really put in the effort to make her much more interesting and fun than Arlon was, at least to run, and as I said, Arlon did become more interesting in the writing than in the actual sessions. I also challenged myself by creating a character that is quite different from myself.
> 
> As I mentioned before, we experimented with recording the entire session to assist with writing these write-ups here. I think it really helped me to produce a tighter narrative. This was the point where it started to feel more like a story than an just the transcription of a TRPG session. It was so helpful that all future sessions were recorded.


	28. Origin Story 2, Part 1: The Light in the Dark, Part I

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A look into the past of the newest passenger on the Helix. Alex fights to survive on the streets of Vandia as a child.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this is the first part of a three part origin story I wrote for Alex before the start of Volume 3. I chose to insert the origin story at this point in the series because it's required to set up the context for some side-series events that happen during Volume 2 and this point worked really well since Alex just got knocked out at the end of her introduction arc. I like to think of it as her remembering events in her life while she's in her unconscious state. I chose to go with a first-person perspective for this origin arc since it focuses heavily on her internal struggles, and that aspect really adds to the whole flashback feel too, in a sense.

“Fresh bread! Fresh bread here!”

“Watch where you’re going!”

“Hot pastries! Right out of the oven!”

“I’ll take three!”

“All natural apples from Sunset Orchard!”

I can hear the sounds of the bustling Mirthal marketplace growing louder as I draw near. I slip through the crowd unnoticed. On these busy streets, it can be easy to miss a small little ten-year-old girl. I quickly sneak by the market stalls, grabbing what I can and shoving it into my bag. A loaf of bread, one of those delicious cinnamon pastries, some pears, whatever the heck that square biscuit thing is. Now all I need is some apples; my favorite.

I squeeze through the crowd over to the apple stand owned by that fat jerk with the moustache and reach out for some nice juicy apples. My mouth waters at the sight of them. He looks away and I seize my chance! One! Two! Three! I can grab one more!

“Not this time, girly,” I hear the gruff voice of the apple merchant as he clamps his giant hand around my arm. “You’re not getting away with any more of my apples you greedy little shit.” He lifts me up into the air by my arm. It hurts.

“Let go of me!” I shout at him as I try to break free.

“Hahaha, you’re not going anywhere this time,” he laughs. “Officer! Over here!” He yells to to the nearby policeman guarding this section of the market. The officer begins moving in and I begin to panic. I reach for my Pokeball with my free hand and send out my Pokemon.

“Ebony, Bite him!” I scream as my Eevee emerges. She leaps up and sinks her teeth in.

“Argh!” the fat merchant grunts. He loosens his grip, allowing me to slide out of his grasp. Ebony jumps down to the ground next to me as my feet land.

“Let’s go!” I shout to Ebony as I charge into the parting crowd. She runs along behind me, right at my heels.

“Come back here!” I hear the merchant’s voice behind me. “Stop her!” I look back to see two policemen chasing after me. They reach for their Pokeballs and send out a Houndoom and a Mightyena. _I need to get away now!_

I round a corner into an alley, but a fence blocks me from going any further. _Oh no!_ Thinking quickly, I recall Ebony into her Pokeball and jump up onto a nearby dumpster. Then I leap up and catch the top of the fence. I hoist myself over and land safely on the other side.

The Houndoom and Mightyena come barrelling down the alleyway, barking like mad-dogs. They skid to a halt, but the Mightyena slides forward and collides with the fence, causing the chainlinks to rattle.

“Nyeeeaaahhh!” I stick my tongue out at them tauntingly.

“Hey, you! Stop!” one of the policemen shouts as they run into the alley. I turn and dart away.

“You can’t catch me!” I shout back with a laugh as I escape back into the crowded streets of Mirthal.

* * *

The sun sinks low as I walk along the emptying streets. The citizens of Mirthal return to their homes after spending the day working and shopping at the market. I slip into an alleyway and press my hand against the rusted door at the base of the abandoned apartment building. It swings open without much resistance, revealing the trash covered stairs.

I slide my fingers along the railing as I ascend, sweeping away the collected grime, revealing the smooth cold metal beneath. When I reach the sixth floor I stop and look at my dirty fingertips. _Ugh. Why did I do that?_ I rub my hand on my top until the dirt comes off.

I make my way down the hall until I find it: the broken window. I climb up onto the windowsill and then leap out, landing on the adjacent rooftop. I stand up, then walk to the edge and climb up onto the short guard wall. I stare down for a moment, looking at the people walking along on the ground. I walk along the wall, one foot in front of the other, arms raised to stay balanced on the narrow ledge. I wobble for a moment before I catch myself. _No falling today._

I reach the edge and leap off. I roll as I land, then leap back to my feet. I look out to the forests surrounding Mirthal to see the rays of light shrinking as they retreat behind the distant mountains. I pick up the pace, running along, hopping from rooftop to rooftop. I reach the side of a taller building, and run at it. I kick off the protruding wall back towards the high ledge across from it. I grab ahold, then pull myself up.

Up here, the wind is much stronger, blowing my hair into my face. I brush it back with my hand so I can see out over the forests. I grab Ebony’s Pokeball off my belt and let her out. She looks up at me with her adorable brown eyes, her ears flopping around in the wind. I sit down next to her and place her in my lap. “Look, Ebony,” I say as I point at the sun sinking behind the mountains. “Isn’t it beautiful?”

We sit there together for a while admiring the view until the sun fully sets. It reminds me of home. Back where Daddy and I used to live, the sun was always sitting just behind the mountains, casting a beautiful sunset over the plains and the city. I miss it. Sometimes I wish I could just go back there. But I can’t. Daddy’s gone forever and Ebony and I have to take care of ourselves!

I stand up and take one last glance over the buildings and treetops, then I walk to the far side of the building and descend the fire escape with Ebony close behind. At the bottom, we turn the corner deeper into the alleyways and go through the hole in another abandoned building to the hideout.

“What took you so long?” Neela asks when she sees us enter. I look over to see an annoyed expression on her face.

“I had to lose the police first,” I explain. “And then I stopped to look at the view.”

“What’re you doing attracting the police for?” she asks as she walks over. “Let’s see what you got.” She opens my bag and begins digging through it. “Bread, pastries, pairs… four apples? really? You pissed off that stupid fatass again, didn’t you? You’re supposed to be careful, not greedy! That’s how you get caught!” She hits me on the back of the head.

“Ow!” I cry out. “What was that for!?”

“For being stupid!”

“Calm down Neela,” Amir tells her. “It was an honest mistake. You did a good job Alex, but seriously, try to be a bit more careful next time.”

“Okay,” I reply. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s no big deal this time, just don’t make a habit of getting caught. Now let’s eat, then we can do more battle practice.” He turns and and looks across the hideout. “Jamal! Fareed! Get over here!” he shouts. “Alex is back with the food!”

* * *

“Ebony, use Quick Attack!” I shout. Ebony runs forward and dives at the Trubbish. Her head bashes against him and sends him flying back.  
“Oscar, use Double Slap!” Amir commands his Trubbish.

“Dodge it, Ebony!” I shout. My Eevee jumps to the side as the Trubbish strikes once! Twice! Three times Ebony dodges, but Oscar manages to get off a couple hits.

“Nice work,” Amir compliments us. “You two are really starting to get the hang of this. But we’re not done yet!”

“Ebony, Quick Attack again!” Ebony runs forward again, but this time Oscar ducks out of the way. “Darn!”

“Oscar, Take Down!” The Trubbish springs back up and collides with Ebony knocking her to the ground. Amir wins again.

“Awww,” I grumble as I walk over and pick Ebony up. “Good job, Ebony.” I pull her close for a hug and she licks my face.

“You did good today, Alex,” Amir tells me, a slight smirk on his face. “You get better every time. Maybe you’ll win next time,” he says with a laugh.

“You really think so?” I ask.

“Sure,” he says. “Just keep practicing and I think you can do it. Alright, Fareed, you’re up next.”

I step back and sit down on the ratty old mattress that I use as  a bed and watch as Fareed battles against Amir’s Trubbish using his Teddiursa. The two Pokemon exchange blows as Amir shouts tips and words of encouragement at Fareed.

Amir is the ringleader of our little group, and the oldest. He’s sixteen and everyone looks up to him. Lately he’s been helping me, Fareed, and Jamal to be better at Pokemon battles. Fareed is only one year older than I am. He’s kind of quiet.

“Not bad, but you still have a ways to go,” Amir says after taking down Fareed’s Teddiursa. “Jamal, you’re next.” Jamal steps up and releases his Starly. Jamal is twelve and good with computers. Sometimes he teaches me things. I’m pretty good with computers too. Messing around with technology is a good way to pass the time, especially Pokeballs.

“You’re probably gonna lose like everyone else,” Neela taunts Jamal.

“Oh, shut up,” Jamal fires back. “You’ve only beat Amir once!”

“That’s one more time than all of you.” Neela is fourteen. She can be kind of a jerk sometimes, but at least she’s nicer than most of the kids back at the orphanage were. _I hated it there._

Jamal’s battle takes quite a bit longer. It’s a close one, but Oscar finally takes down Jamal’s Starly. “Not bad at all,” Amir tells him. “If you’re a bit more aggressive next time, you’ll probably win.”

“Awesome,” Jamal responds. “Hey, I downloaded the new _Eliminator_ movie earlier. We should watch it.”

“Nice,” Amir tells him. “Let’s watch it now. Fareed, Alex, Neela, you in?”

“Yeah!” I tell him. I hop up from my mattress and quickly run over to join them in front of our crappy old holoscreen. “ _Eliminator_ is awesome!”

* * *

“Stupid thing!” I shout. “Why don’t you work!?” I slam the damaged Pokeball down onto the table in frustration, sending a few loose screws cascading to the floor. I pulled open every panel on the inside, I made sure all the wires were connected, but it just refuses to work.

A loose wire suddenly sparks. “Argh!” I shout as I let go of the ball. It thuds as it hits the table.

“Whatcha doin’?” I hear the sound of Neela’s voice. I look up from the table to see her standing over me.

“I found this Pokeball when I was out earlier,” I explain. “I’m trying to fix it.”

“Well it’s nothing to yell about. It’s just a stupid Pokeball.”

“It’s not stupid,” I tell her. “If it works, I can sell it. Just like the last one.”

“Sooo, you actually know what you’re doing then?”

“Of course I do,” I declare. “I’ve been collecting Pokeball scraps as long as I’ve been here and fixing them. I learned how to do it on my own.”

“Well, I guess you had to be good at something…”

“ _Hey_ , I’m good at other things too!”

“Relax, Alex. I’m just messing with you.” She messes up my hair and then walks away. _Back to work…_

I jiggle a few wires around and press the casing back into place. Suddenly the light on the button blips on for a second, signaling that it’s receiving power again. “Ugh, finally.” I breathe a sigh of relief. “Why didn’t that work before.” I tighten up the screws and set the ball down on the table.

I don’t even have a moment to relax before Jamal bursts into the hideout shouting as loud as he can. “The cops are coming! The cops are coming!”

“And you led them back here!?” Amir shouts back at him. “What the hell were you thinking!?”

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry!” Jamal sounds desperate. “I freaked out! I didn’t know what to do!”

“We need to go now!” Neela shouts. “The cops have been looking for us thanks to all the market raiding we’ve been doing lately. We got too greedy! We’re going to be in major trouble.”

I shove the Pokeball into my bag and then run over to join the others. “What do we do?” I ask.

“Neela’s right,” Amir declares. “We have to get the hell out of here!”

Suddenly, a group of policemen burst in through the hole in the wall, Houndooms, Mightyenas, and Manectrics in the front. “There they are!” One of them shouts.

“ _Shit!_ ” Amir shouts. “C’mon, follow me!” He starts running and we all follow close behind. We run through the door on the far side of the hideout and down the dark hallway. We quickly turn around the corner toward the door. Amir throws his weight against the boarded up entrance and breaks through to the other side. “Quickly!” he shouts as he beckons us through.

We run out into the street, but suddenly one of the police Mightyenas darts around a corner, cutting me and Fareed off from the others. It starts running after them. “You two, go that way!” Amir shouts at us, pointing the opposite way down the street. He then turns and follows Neela and Jamal down another alleyway with the Mightyena close behind.

Fareed and I take off down the street, but a Manectric cuts us off in front, forcing us down an alley. It barks angrily behind us and starts sparking off bolts of electricity. I feel my body begin to spasm as one strikes me in the back, knocking me to the ground. I feel everything go numb.

“Fareed, help me!” I shout to my friend but he stares at me with a panicked look on his face.

“I’m sorry…” He turns and runs, leaving me lying in the street.

“Fareed!” I scream after him, arm outstretched. It’s no use. He doesn’t come back. Tears stream out of my eyes onto the pavement as the policemen close in on me and pick me up off the ground.

“Looks like your friends got away,” one of them says. “But you’re coming with us little lady.”

* * *

“What do we do, Ebony?” I ask my only remaining friend. My Pokemon companion sits in my lap, looking up at my somber expression. “What do we do?” We sit together in the cold dark alleyway.

The police took me back to the orphanage. That terrible, terrible place. It was worse than I remember. They were so mad at me for running away, and for getting in trouble with the police. They didn’t really care about me. They _never_ cared about me.

I ran away again. The same night they brought me there, I slipped out the window and never looked back. I went back to the hideout but it was empty. I think the others went back later and got their stuff. They didn’t leave any clues about where they went. So now I sit here alone with Ebony and I don’t know what to do.

“Why would they just leave us behind?” I ask, tears pooling in my eyes. “How could they do this to us!?” Ebony just whimpers softly. I’m cold and tired and hungry. I spent the last of my Pokeball money days ago, and we can’t go back to the market to steal food because they know to look for us now.

Days become weeks as we wander. We sleep in cardboard boxes and old rags. There’s hardly any food, we have to eat trash to survive. We sit together in the cold, dark alleyway eating discarded scraps of food behind a restaurant.

Suddenly a pair of eyes appear out of the shadow. A sad pair of purple eyes. A little gray Pokemon cautiously approaches us. “Hey little guy,” I say to him. I hold out what little food I have left. “Are you starving too?” He slowly walks up and grabs the food. He begins to nibble on it.

“What kind of Pokemon are you?” I ask as I pull out my Pokedex. I scan him and it tells me he’s an Espurr. “Espurr, huh? You’re a cute little guy. Want to come with us? We can search for food together.” I pull out my one remaining Pokeball, the one I was fixing the day the police came. I hold it up to him and he tries to bite it. He thinks it’s food, but he accidentally pushes the button and it pulls him in. The ball shakes briefly and falls still. “I think I’ll call you Loki…”

Ebony and I resume our search for food with Loki, our new Pokemon friend. We have to move on because the restaurant got shut down. Weeks become months as we drudge on. Food becomes more scarce. I keep my friends in their Pokeballs to keep them going. The rain comes and I get sick. I can’t keep going. I can see the light slowly dimming…

_Am I going to die?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact, I started writing Alex's origin shortly after the end of Volume 2 and I didn't finish it until just before Volume 3 started like five months later. It went through like five or six iterations in that time, but I finally got something I feel proud of. It made the most sense to split this story into three parts since there are pretty big time jumps in between them
> 
> Alex’s backstory is insanely detailed. Ever since character creation I had just been building it up and developing it, but finally I got to share it with others when I wrote this. The hardest part was distilling it down to the key moments in her life. Arlon had a very specific defining moment as a character that was the logical choice for his Origin Story, but Alex is different. Many life experiences shaped her into the person you see in the main storyline, and I picked the ones I felt were the most important.
> 
> Each part will focus on a series of points in her timeline that are clumped pretty close together, while the parts themselves are a bit more separated along her timeline. This particular part takes place over a six-month period. The main focus is a gang of street kids she was part of. That’s where she learned how to work on Pokeballs, how to be stealthy, how to be acrobatic, and the basics of Pokemon battling. But it’s one of the key things that fed into her abandonment issues. She finally had something resembling a family again and it was taken from her. And at the end, we see her first near-death experience. I hope you enjoyed, and look forward to sharing the rest of this story with you.


	29. Origin Story 2, Part 2: The Light in the Dark, Part II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A look into the past of the newest passenger on the Helix. Alex battles with depression as a young teenager.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As with the previous part of this origin story, this and the final part of it have been inserted at this point in the timeline as it makes the most sense to place it here even though it was written just before the start of Volume 3.

Darkness.

I feel the darkness swirling around me. I see it obscuring their faces. Amir, Neela, Jamal, Fareed… _Dad_. I try to extend my hand out to them, but I just can’t seem to reach them. They slowly fade back into the dark.

“No! Don’t leave!” I cry out. “Don’t leave me here alone!”

I feel like I’m falling. Tumbling and turning deep into a vast abyss. _Am I dead?_

Suddenly, a tiny point of light appears. I’m not falling, I’m floating up towards it. It continues to expand as I draw near.

My eyes slowly flicker open and I see light: the warm glow of an electric lamp. I turn my head to the right and see a man in dark robes sitting next to me, a faint smile appears on his pale brown face.

I quickly try to sit up, but he reaches out and pushes me back down onto the pillow. “Easy, child,” he says.

“Wh- where am I?” I ask. My throat feels dry and cracked but I manage to sputter the words out. “Who are you?”

“You may call me Raj,” he tells me. He hands me a glass of water. I eagerly take a sip. “You are in the Ninauli Monastery, just outside of Mirthal. You are safe here, child.”

“How did I get here?” The last thing I remember is walking… Then the darkness.

“I found you lying in the road. You had a horrible fever. You are lucky to be alive.”

“In the road…? My Pokemon!” I frantically reach for my belt, but my Pokeballs are missing. “Where are they?!”

“Your Pokemon are safe,” Raj says, pointing to a nearby table. Ebony and Loki’s Pokeballs sit on the table. “They were in bad shape as well, but they have been taken care of.”

He gets up and walks to the table to fetch them. He returns and hands them to me. I release them right on the bed. My Pokemon friends, Eevee and Espurr, look up at me. They look happy to see me. I hug them tightly.

“Thank you,” I say. “For taking care of them… and me…”

“It was the least I could do,” he responds. His smile returns as he places a hand on my shoulder. “You will need more time to recuperate. You may stay here as long as you like.”

* * *

The wind rustles the trees as I run through the forest. I hop up onto a large protruding root and leap off. I grab hold of a branch hanging over the narrow stream and swing across. Ebony runs alongside me. Her beautiful golden bands seem to sparkle as the sun filters through the trees and reflects off of them. Raj gave me a dusk stone for my birthday and I used it to evolve Ebony into an Umbreon! She’s even cooler than before! 

We push through the bushes and emerge atop the hill, looking down over the treetops below. I jump onto the steep incline and slide down on the dirt, back into the dense brush with Ebony close behind. A few moments later we arrive at the clearing. The sun shines down on the grass and the bird Pokemon chirp in the brush. It’s so peaceful here.

“Alright, Ebony, let’s see what we can find,” I say. Today we’re going to find a new Pokemon friend.

Suddenly Ebony darts off into the bushes. “Hey, where are you going?!” I shout after her. I run over to the bushes and pull them apart but she’s not there. “Ebony, where’d you go!?” I call out. 

The bushes further along the clearing edge rustle for a moment, then she springs out with a little yellow bug Pokemon on her back. The little thing bites into Ebony’s back. She begins shaking violently and throws it off.

“Get it Ebony!” I shout. “Use Feint Attack!” She leaps up and pounces on the bug Pokemon, pinning it down. “What is it?” I ask as I pull out my Pokedex to scan it. “Joltik, huh? It’s kinda cute looking…”

The Joltik squirms out from underneath Ebony and then shoots out an electrified ball of webbing at her. The strands of sticky fibers get all tangled in her legs and then shock her!

“Hang in there Ebony,” I cheer her on. “Bite it!” She fights through the webs and clamps her jaws around the Joltik.

“Now to catch you.” I pull out a Pokeball, decked out with a case of my own making that makes it stronger, and throw it at the little yellow bug. The ball collides with the tiny Joltik, still in Ebony’s mouth, and sucks him inside. It land on the ground and shakes once. Twice. And my new friend is caught!

I run over and pick the ball up, and immediately let my new Joltik out. He’s a cute little thing, no bigger than the ball he just came out of. He sits right in the palm of my hand, looking up with his four little blue eyes. “You’re a little cutie, aren’t you?” I ask as I stroke his fuzzy back. “I think I’ll call you Okuma.”

* * *

The darkness surrounds me again. The blackness crawls along the floor, pursuing me as I run down the hall. I see him standing there, arms open to welcome me. _Daddy, save me from the darkness!_ I run up and grab open air. _He’s gone._

The faceless shadows surround me. The laughter of the children taunts me. _Leave me alone! I didn’t do anything to you!_ I run. I have to keep going. I have to get far away from here. _Run away little crybaby._

I run to my new friends, but their smiles turn malicious. _Come and stay a while, but we’ll just leave you in the end._ They were just pretending. _No! Don’t leave me here!_

I keep going. I have to keep going. It’s becoming so hard to breathe. The light is going out again. **_I’m going to die._**

I gasp for breath as I bolt upright in bed. Tears and cold sweat drip off my cheeks. Ebony stares up at me with a confused look in her beautiful red eyes. It was the nightmare again. Every night it’s the same. Every night I die again.

“I’m sorry Ebony,” I say. I stroke her soft black fur. “I woke you up…” I swing my legs over the edge of the bed and stand up. I’m not getting any more sleep today. In the pale morning light I stare at myself in the mirror. My damp hair is matted against my face. I sweep it back and look myself in the eye. I look like shit. I feel worse…

It’s been a year since I nearly died, but that night still haunts me. I can push it out of mind during the day, but at night I’m plagued by nightmares. I see my life play out like a tragedy. _I just want it to stop._

The day seems to crawl by in slow motion. I watch the monks go about their business, ignoring my presence. Raj is the only one who pays any attention to me, but even he’s been too busy for me lately.

Raj used to teach me things. He told me about Earth, the origin planet of people and Pokemon. He told me about the Tree of Life and Tree of Knowledge. He told me about the Angels who were chosen to watch over this Universe by God. Now Raj doesn’t have time for me anymore.

I sit with Ebony in the garden watching the Pidgeys play in the trees. A few monks sit around meditating with their Pokemon. Off to the left, one of the older monks sits with a Medicham, both very focused. Across from me under a tree, a young monk sits with a Lucario. Raj told me about meditation before, but I don’t really get it.

“You seem troubled, child,” I suddenly hear Raj’s voice say. I turn to see him standing behind me.

“Oh… Hi Raj,” I say.

“Are you alright, Alex?” he asks me.

“Yes,” I tell him. “I guess… Maybe. I don’t know…”

“What seems to be the problem?”

“I can’t sleep anymore,” I say, “I have nightmares… Every night. They won’t go away. I think the Universe hates me…”

“The Universe cannot hate. The Universe just is.”

“But why is it like _this_?” I ask desperately. “Why is it so full of pain?”

“God has his reasons,” Raj says. More ambiguous answers.

“What reason could he have for making my life so miserable? Why do all these bad things happen to me? What did I do to deserve this?”

“God does not wish ill upon any of us. Misfortune is often caused by the actions of others. Those with wicked spirits bring harm upon those around them, whether they wish it or not.”

“So everyone left me because they were bad people? Or is it my fault?”

“I cannot say, child,” Raj tells me. “But I do not believe it to be any fault of yours.”

* * *

_What if he’s wrong?_

The question eats away at me. It burns away in the back of my mind. Every day it gets stronger and stronger. _What if it’s all my fault?_ Everywhere I go, I get hurt and people abandon me. Maybe I’m a bad person.

The weeks pass by and I can feel the darkness surround me. Even in the waking hours of the day I feel it. I’m living the nightmare now. _It’s all my fault_. This is the price of my existence. I wasn’t even supposed to be born. I was just an accident that should never have happened.

Weeks turn to months. I can’t even bring myself to eat anymore. I’m just bad luck for everyone. Mom died because of me. Dad disappeared because of me. Everyone left because of me. _I should just die._ It should have happened a long time ago. Why did Raj save me? He should have left me in the road.

_I have to end this._

I drag myself out of bed and I stare at myself in the mirror. _I hate you!_ I want to scream it, but no sound comes out. I grab one of many unfinished Pokeballs off the table. Why should I bother finishing them anyway? I throw it at my own reflection and the mirror shatters, spraying glass all over the floor. _Go away!_ I can’t stand the sight of myself.

I grab a shard of glass off the floor. It cuts into my hand and draws blood. Pain. I drop the glass and it explodes into tiny fragments. It’s so fragile, but so deadly. _Just like me._ It’s time for me to go.

I place my Pokedex on the table. One by one I surround it with my Pokeballs. Ebony. Loki. Okuma. _I’m sorry, I have to go._ I turn back to the broken mirror. All I can see are my eyes, full of sadness and pain. I walk up and grab another shard of glass.

I slide it across my wrist. It hurts so much, but I have to do this. The blood runs down my arm and along the edge of the glass, dripping onto the floor. Now for the other… I slice open my other wrist as well, struggling with my weakened arm.

The room begins to spin and fade. I feel dizzy. I think I’m falling. The darkness is all around me. I give in. _No more fighting. **No more pain.**_

* * *

_Where am I?_

My eyes slowly open to reveal my room, lit by the faintly glowing lamp. My wrists throb in pain. I lift my arms to see them bound in bandages. _How?_

I tilt my head to the side to see Raj sitting next to the bed, a somber expression on his face. “You are awake,” he says.

“Why am I here?” I ask as I sit up. _I’m supposed to be dead._ “Why am I still here?!”

“I promised I would look after you,” he tells me. “That is what I have done.”

“Why would you do this?!” I scream at him. “I _wanted_ to die. Don’t you understand?”

“I _do_ understand. But I cannot just sit by and let someone take their own life.”

“Why would you even care? I’m not worth saving…”

“I believe that all life is precious, and therefore worth saving… Including yours, even if you cannot see it.”

“You’re wrong. I’m not even supposed to be alive. I shouldn’t be here. You should have just let me die!”

“Deep down, I know you don’t really believe that.” He places a hand on my shoulder.

“Yes I do!” I push his hand away.

“Right now your mind is clouded by darkness…” He pauses for a moment and looks off at the light flitting in through the partially closed blinders on the window. “But there can be no darkness without light.”

“Just go away!” I shout at him. “I’m sick of your bullshit and riddles!”

“I will leave, if that is what you wish…” He stands up and straightens out his robes. “But think about what I have said.”

* * *

_Why can’t I just die?_

I tried again, but I can’t do anything right. _I can’t even kill myself!_ So here I am… I feel so worthless. Raj keeps telling me that I should keep living. _Why?_ I can’t keep going. _Doesn’t he understand?_

Of course he doesn’t… All he says is this stupid metaphysical _shit_. No darkness without light… What does that even mean anyway? Darkness is when the lights go out, and I have no light left.

 _I have to try harder._ There must be a better way to do this… I think maybe I could jump off the tower… But I’m being watched now. Raj won’t let me be alone very long. There must be something I can do… I’m so weak now, but I climb out of bed anyway. I walk to the door and step into the hallway.

“Where are you going?” Raj asks. He’s sitting right outside the door.

“The bathroom,” I lie.

“Very well,” he says. I think he believes me since he stays there.

I don’t go to the bathroom. I go to the tower. I have to go quickly because Raj will realize soon. Up the stairs I go. Up to the very top of the tower.

The wind howls past the open windows as I look down at the ground below. One jump and it’s all over. I climb over the window, out onto the edge. One more step and I can leave this world behind forever.

“Please, come back inside.” It’s Raj. He must have followed me.

“Why should I?” I ask.

“When I first found you, I saw a girl in need of help, and help is what I offered.” He pauses briefly and takes a step toward me. “Right now, I see a girl in need of help, and help is what I am offering. So, why don’t you come back inside? Let me _help_ you.”

“Why do you have to care? It would be easier if you didn’t… No one ever cared about me. No one _should_ care about me.” The tears are pouring from my eyes.

“Do you really believe that? I think maybe you are just searching for a reason not to jump. Let me show you one. Please, come back inside.” He moves closer still and reaches out for me. I look at him, then glance down at the ground below. Then back up.

_Is he right after all?_

_No, he can’t be right. I can jump now and end the pain._

_But what if he knows another way to end the pain?_

_Just jump already!_

_**No. I don’t want to jump.** _

I reach out for Raj and take his hand. He pulls me back over the windowsill and into a hug. “I don’t want to live like this anymore,” I manage to get out between tears.

* * *

I’m leaving today. These past few months have been a difficult path to recovery, and now I must continue on my own. I understand now what Raj meant. There is no darkness without light. The two balance each other out. It just took the overwhelming darkness to show me the light again.

Raj guided me back onto the right path. He showed me how to stay in control so I don’t fall into the darkness again. He gave me a new Pokemon friend, a Riolu. I named him Anubis. Raj said that they’re more in tune with the aura of humans and are good to meditate with. I’m still not very good at meditating but it seems to be helping.

I train with my Pokemon too. We’re going to become strong and take care of each other. They will always be here for me, and I will always be there for them.

I lean on the fence outside the monastery and gaze out into the trees. I feel the wind blowing through my hair and the sun shining on my face. I feel alive.

Raj is going on a pilgrimage. He says I should go on a journey of my own, so it’s time for me to leave as well. I have a new goal now. I am going to find out what happened to Dad. It’s time I learned the truth.

“Are you ready to go?” Raj asks. I turn to see him standing behind  me.

“Mhm,” I respond.

“Good,” he says. “Good. Before I go, I want to give you something.”

“What is it?” I ask.

He hold out his hand to reveal a silver chain with a Sinai religious symbol hanging from it. “I know you don’t really share my faith, but I hope this can be a symbol of hope for you.”

“It’s beautiful,” I tell him. “Thank you.” I allow him to reach behind my neck and clasp it in place.

“I’m going to miss you!” I cry, this time the tears are a mix of joy and sadness. I throw my arms around Raj and hug him as tightly as I can. “I’ll never forget you!”

“And I shall never forget you, child,” he tells me. “You have a very unique perspective on the world. I hope you find what you are looking for.”

“Goodbye Raj,” I say.

“Farewell, child.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feels, man. Freaking feels. I nearly teared up like three different times just writing this, even though I knew how this would all play out beforehand. There’s not a whole lot of action in this part as it pretty much just focuses on Alex’s emotional struggles.
> 
> The intro takes place just after the end of Part 1, but everything else takes place over the course of like a year and a half when Alex is twelve and thirteen. Her time in the monastery is very important to her character because that’s where she attempted suicide, and was saved as well. If she had ended up somewhere else, she very well may have succeeded. I only briefly touched on it here, but this also where she learned a lot about Sinai religion and stuff like that.
> 
> At the end, we see Alex decide to start searching for her father, which will be a major focus of her character. In the first part, I touched briefly on how Alex felt like she didn’t really care about finding out what happened, but now she has changed her mind.


	30. Origin Story 2, Part 3: The Light in the Dark, Part III

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A look into the past of the newest passenger on the Helix. Alex falls in love for the first time when a new friend changes her life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As with the previous parts of this origin story, this has been inserted at this point in the timeline as it makes the most sense to place it here even though it was written just before the start of Volume 3.

The evening shadows stretch along the streets of Khirpai. The perpetual sunset of this part of Vandia has reached its lowest point. This is the closest thing to twilight this city will ever experience. It has a certain beauty to it, especially in this part of town. The buildings here are the closest thing to luxury you can find on Vandia. Here the apartments are spaced out, unlike the dense, poorer districts.

I run past the lit windows of homes inhabited by those who care not for the troubles of the poverty stricken majority of Vandia’s citizens: mostly foreign businessmen, researchers, and tourists. They’re not why I’m here. I approach one building with the lights out that seems to have been long abandoned. _This used to be my home._

I walk up and peer through the window. It looks like no one has lived here in a long time… not since I left… It’s been nearly ten years, but it looks mostly the same. _How?_ I run to the door and touch the console. It remains unresponsive. _Obviously that won’t work._ The power has been off for a long time. _There’s got to be a way in._

“I know!” I say aloud. I reach for Okuma’s Pokeball and let him out. The cute little Joltik pops out on the ground and looks around. He then climbs up my leg up onto my shoulder. “Okuma, give that door console a little shock,” I tell him. I reach out to it and he scurries down my arm and hops onto it.

Sparks fly as Okuma releases charged up energy from his fuzzy little body. Then the console lights up and the door slides open! “That was too easy!” I say as I step inside. Okuma hops back up onto my arm as I walk through the doorway. “Anybody could just do that and break into any of these places if they wanted.”

I move further inside, and it becomes harder to see in the dim light. “Man, it’s dark in here. Lumiera, it’s your turn to help!” I reach for another Pokeball and release my Litwick. She floats up just by my head and lights up the room with her ghostly blue flame. “Much better!” I found her in an abandoned old house outside of Mirthal, back near the monastery. She was haunting it all alone, so I took her with me.

I look around as we move through the apartment. Memories come flooding back to me. I spent four years of my life here very long ago, but now I can picture those days clearly. “This is unreal. It hasn’t changed much. I wonder why no one moved in.”

I press further in. _There’s got to be a clue here somewhere._ Through the kitchen, past the holoscreen, into Dad’s old study. I was never allowed in here. _Not anymore._ If there is a single clue in this place, it’s in here.

I search through Dad’s desk, one drawer at a time, and I eventually come across an old Pokedex. “This must have been his,” I say to no one in particular. “Why would he leave it here?” I pull it out and attempt to turn it on. _Battery’s dead._

I flip it over and search for a way to open it. Four tiny screws hold the back cover in place. These things last a very long time so you don’t need to open them very often. I sift through my bag and pull out my Pokeball kit. I whip out my screwdriver, which luckily fits perfectly. 

I undo the screw and pry the power cell out. I place it on the desk. “Okuma, give it a little juice,” I instruct my Joltik. He hops down onto the desk and crawls over to it. Okuma unleashes his charged up electricity into the power cell and it begins to power back up. “Thanks, buddy. You’ve been quite useful tonight.”

I pick up the power cell, stick it back into the Pokedex, and then screw the back cover back on. “Please, work,” I say as I power it up. I sigh with relief as the screen lights up. “Let’s see what we can find.”

I begin sifting through the files stored on the Dex, many of which have been corrupted. I guess after sitting here all these years this was bound to happen. Eventually I come across a series of recordings. I attempt to play each one until one works, starting from the most recent one. After several tries, one finally starts to play. It’s dated March 3, 3593, about ten years ago.

Dad’s face appears on the screen. “After months of little to no progress, we may have finally hit a major breakthrough. I have discovered references to a planet a few systems away that seem to indicate that a temple containing a mirror may have once stood upon it. Perhaps this is the Mirror we have been searching for.” _Mirror? What mirror?_ I wonder. That must be why Dad was here… “We will be leaving for this planet a few weeks from now,” he continues. This could be the moment we have been-”

“Daddy, look what Ebony can do!” a child’s voice interrupts. It’s my own. Dad looks away from the screen.

“Not now, Alex!” he shouts at me. “Josephine, get her out of here,” he then addresses his assistant. “I’m busy.” Josephine was nice. She took care of me a lot.

“Yes, Robert,” she tells him. Dad returns his focus to the screen.

“As I was saying, we will be leaving for this planet in a few weeks. Just as soon as I finish assisting with the recently uncovered site here on Vandia.”

* * *

The blood drips from my cheek as the blade rips through my flesh. I struggle to break from the thug’s grasp as he presses knife deeper into the wound. Tears start forming as I cry out in pain. “You brought this on yourself, you little bitch,” he snarls at me.

In a way, he’s right. These two thugs jumped me and, like an idiot, I just had to teach them a lesson. My eyes are fixed on the fat bald one, sprawled out on the ground. I took him down, but the other one pulled a knife after Diablo and Lumiera took his Pokemon out. He caught me off guard. _I should have run._  
  
“Diablo! Lumiera!” I scream. My Houndoom and Lampent unleash a firestorm on the thug’s back. He loosens his grip and howls in pain as my Pokemon friends sear his flesh. His arms go limp as he passes out and I fall to my knees, gasping and crying. Blood and tears drip onto the cracked and broken pavement _What was I thinking?_ I fought against bad guys before, but this was too close.

I pick myself back up and recall my Pokemon. “Thanks for saving my life again,” I say to them. I place the balls back onto my belt and quickly run out of the alley. I need to get home.

The wind rushes through my hair as I run across the plains outside the city. Blood trickles out of my open wound as a reminder of my own stupidity. Usually I can handle myself without a scratch, but today I bit off more than I could chew.

I pick up the pace and soon I arrive at the crashed ship that has become my new home. I found it shortly after I arrived in Khirpai. I considered staying where Dad and I used to live, but there were too many bad memories. It’s been over two years since then and I have a new home now.

I step inside the half of the ship that remains and make my way to my room. I grab an old shirt and press it again my cheek. I sit on the bed and wait for the blood to stop. _Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. STUPID._ I could have got myself killed.

I don’t think this is the best way to keep myself occupied. I’ve just been fighting so much now. My progress is nonexistent so long as I’m stuck on this stupid planet. I searched through all of Dad’s notes that I could find, but I hit a wall a long time ago. All I know is he was looking for something called the Mirror, and then he vanished.

No one knows anything! I’ve talked to monks, and I’ve talked to a bunch of archaeologists who are digging up the ruins here in the Sunset Plains. Some of them even knew Dad, but even they don’t know anything! All I’ve been able to figure out is what planet he went to before he disappeared. _If I could just get there._ But no. No one will take me off this planet. I don’t know what to do. So I fight.

Eventually the blood stops and I slap a bandage on my cheek. It’s all I can do. I probably need medical attention, but I have no idea what to do, and I certainly can’t afford to have someone else do it. This will leave a scar for sure. This one I can’t hide. I look down at my wrists, encased in my gloves so no one can see what I did to myself.

Many times I feel like I’m slipping back into the darkness, but I find ways to keep myself busy. It takes more and more effort though. Without being able to get away from Vandia, I don’t know how long I can keep this up...

* * *

The constant orange glow of sunset lights the way as I run along the rooftops. It’s much nicer up here than down on the streets. The air is clearer and there’s not as much trash lying around. Not to mention I can get around quicker without all those people in the way.

I used to search for people to fight, bad people, like some kind of vigilante or something, but that was stupid. After that last fight, I gave it up. But then I hear the scream. I run to the source and spot a guy cornering a girl in an alley. She doesn’t look much older than me.

I quietly drop down and move up. He’s got a knife. A Scrafty stands nearby, over a fainted Purloin. “No one can hear you,” he says to the girl as he moves in.

“Hey, asshole!” I shout as I pull out Anubis’s Pokeball. “Leave her alone!” I throw the ball as hard as I can. It ricochets off the ground up into the air. My Lucario emerges mid-air and drops down in front of the thug.

“What the fu-”

“Use Force Palm!” I shout. Before the thug can even finish his sentence, Anubis strikes him with his paw and knocks him away.

The thug pauses for a moment to figure out what happened, then locks eyes with me. “You’ve made a big mistake, girly,” he says. “Scrafty, use Brick Break!” he then shouts, directing his Pokemon toward Anubis. The Scrafty rushes at him and punches hard. It looks painful, but Anubis hangs in there.

The thug begins to circle around our battling Pokemon towards me, but I keep moving around too. “Anubis, use Force Palm!” I shout to my Lucario as I circle. Anubis rushes at the Scrafty and pushes him back toward the thug.

“Brick Break again!” the thug shouts. “This is it for you,” he sneers at me. “Then I’ll have my way with both of you. The Scrafty charges at Anubis, fist raised.

“Not so fast!” I shout. “Counter it, Anubis!” The Scrafty lands his blow, but Anubis manages to slip to the side, and avoid the brunt of the attack. He then grabs the Scrafty by the arm and sweeps him off his feet with one of his legs. One more punch plants the Scrafty’s face into the ground, knocked out.

Enraged, the thug lunges at me with his knife, but I easily dodge out of the way. “Take him out!” I shout to Anubis. “Force Palm!” My Lucario springs up and strikes him in the back, knocking him into the wall. “Not so tough now, are ya!?” I shout.

Then I run to the girl while Anubis keeps an eye on the thug. She’s slumped against the wall, crying. I reach out my hand. “It’s okay, he can’t hurt you now.” She looks up at me. Her eyes are full of fear. “C’mon, let’s get out of here.” I say urgently. She grabs my hand and I pull her up.

I can get a better look at her in the light. Judging from her features, I think she looks Alliance, _maybe_. Her brown hair hangs loosely around her face. It’s dyed in a pattern of green, blue, and purple on the left side. She recalls her fainted Purloin and then we run.

I lead her back to a more crowded area where it’s safe. “Who are you?” she finally asks me. She seems to have calmed down a bit now.

“I’m Alex,” I tell her.

“Well, uh, thanks, Alex,” she responds. “For saving me back there. That was amazing, what you did…”

“Don’t mention it. I do it all the time.”

“Really? Isn’t that dangerous? You’re just a kid.”

“Well, so are you!” I tell her indignantly. “Isn’t walking in a dark alley alone dangerous? You don’t look any older than me!”

“I know, it was stupid… If you hadn’t been there…” It looks like she’s going to start crying again.

“No, don’t cry,” I tell her. “I’m sorry.” We share an awkward hug.

Eventually she composes herself and begins to relax. “Thanks, again,” she says. “My name’s Naomi by the way.”

“So what are you doing here, Naomi?” I ask her. “You don’t look like you’re from around here… and this isn’t exactly the safest neighborhood.”

“I just needed some air… Like I said, it was stupid.” She falls silent and looks around. “Would you minding helping me get home? Y’know, just in case that guy comes back…”

“Sure,” I tell her. “Lead the way.”

* * *

“So, then I ran up the top of the steel beam and jumped off and kicked the dude right in the head! Then the Gurdurr tried to swing at me and I ducked and he nailed his trainer right in the face!”

“Are you serious?” Naomi asks. “That’s amazing. What happened next?”

“Well, then the other guy almost killed me… I do stupid things too.”

“Well, at least you survived.”

“Yeah… so, uh, that’s how I got this scar.” I point to the x-shaped mark on my face that still hasn’t quite healed, months later.

“So, where are we going anyway?” she asks.

“You’ll see,” I tell her. Together we walk across the plains toward the ruins.

It’s been about a month since I met Naomi. We became fast friends. I forgot what it was like to have a friend my own age. We hang out all the time, even if her dad doesn’t seem to like me very much. He’s some kind of big-shot Alliance businessman or something, here to exploit Vandia’s weak economy, which isn’t that uncommon. It’s easy to see why he’s not too keen on his daughter being friends with some street kid like me.

But I don’t care about that. This past month has made me feel so alive. More alive than I’ve felt in a long time. I have a reason to stop fighting. A reason to get up in the morning. A reason to keep going.  
  
Eventually, we arrive at the ruins being excavated in the Sunset Plains near Khirpai. Tourists gather in front of them for their chance to get a tour. “I’ve always wanted to come see the ruins here, but Dad said they weren’t worth the time,” Naomi says. “But I don’t think either of us can afford a tour.”

“I’ve got something better than a tour in mind,” I tell her. I grab her arm and pull her down a side entrance.

“Isn’t this illegal?” she asks.

“Of course it is!” I tell her. “But I do this all the time! Sometimes I even pretend to be a tour guide. Tourists are stupid and gullible.”

“What if we get caught?”

“We won’t.”

I lead Naomi through the ruins, showing her things she would never see on a tour. Murals, sculptures, hidden rooms; you name it. Along the way I tell her all I know about them. Eventually, we wind up in a big open room with a beautiful mural depicting a stoic figure and his Pokemon companion. They’re surrounded by darkness. A branch-like hand reaches down to them from above.

“What is this supposed to be?” Naomi asks. She reaches out and brushes her hand against it.

“I honestly have no idea,” I confess. “The thing at the top is like a tree. I think it’s like the Tree of Life or Tree of Knowledge or something. I’m only guessing it’s supposed to show how the Trees birthed Humans and Pokemon to stand against the darkness. The Angels supposedly built this place… I think maybe they planted the Trees for us.”

“I can’t say I really believe in any of that stuff, but it’s so fascinating all the same. What about you?”

“I like to believe in something,” I tell her. “But I don’t think anyone really shares the same beliefs as me. I don’t think they really care either...”

“I care about what you believe,” Naomi tells me, she places a hand on my shoulder.

“Thanks,” I say. I think I’m blushing. “Listen…  I, uh, wanted to give you something.” I reach for the necklace Raj gave me and remove it. I place it into her hand. Her skin seems to radiate warmness.

“Isn’t this a-”

“Yes, but that’s not why I’m giving it to you. Someone very important to me gave it to me, and now I’m giving it to you. Your friendship means a lot to me.” I close her fingers around the necklace and look into her stunning green eyes. In that moment, I realize something; she’s more than just a friend to me. My heart feels like it’s going to burst from my chest.

“Thanks… I- I don’t know what to say,” Naomi tells me. She reaches up to put it on, but she can’t quite reach. “Wanna give me a hand?”

“Sure.” I reach around behind her neck and grab the ends of the necklace. My hands are trembling and I struggle to clasp the chain. I want to tell her how I feel, but I’m afraid she doesn’t feel the same. I don’t even know if she likes girls.

Naomi places her hands on my arms to steady my hands. I successfully close the clasp, but I can feel my face burning red.

“What is it?” she asks.

“N- nothing. It’s stupid…” _No, you idiot. Just tell her._

“Okay.” She smiles and pulls me into a hug. “Thanks again.”  
_  
I wish I could stay in her arms forever._

* * *

“That movie was awesome!” I squeal with delight as we exit the theater. “Rocket was my favorite! I want a talking Zigzagoon now. I _need_ one **right now!** ”

“I know!” Naomi agrees. “I can’t believe we were _actually_ able to sneak in there; I’ve been _dying_ to see it!” We just got outside after seeing _Galactic Vanguards_ , which I think just might be the best movie I’ve ever seen.

“I sneak in all the time,” I tell her. “It’s actually pretty easy.”

“You should see the theaters back home,” Naomi responds. “Security is so tight, it’s kind of ridiculous.”

“I’d like to see them try to keep me out!” I shout.

“Five credits says you’d get caught before you even got through the front door,” she teases.

“Maybe one day I’ll be able to take you up on that bet,” I tell her.

“C’mon, let’s go!” Naomi suddenly shouts. She grabs my hand and pulls me along.

“Where are we going?” I ask as we run.

“You’ll see.” She laughs. Those were the same words I used a few weeks ago.

She drags me across town to the richer neighborhoods. We pass storefront after storefront before we finally stop in front of a fancy restaurant.

“What are we doing here?” I ask. “There’s no way I can afford a place like this.”

“Don’t worry,” she says as she leads me inside. “It’ll be my treat. I get a huge allowance, and what else am I gonna spend it on?”

I relax a bit. “If you say so.” She’s paying for me? Is this like a date?

I glance at the menu as we sit down. I can barely pronounce half the dishes on here, and some of them have ingredients imported from another _system_.

“Find anything you like?” the waiter asks as he approaches. “I would recommend the Corphish, it’s freshly caught.”

“That’s _disgusting_ ,” I say. “How can anyone eat Pokemon?”

“Oh, uh, right. Yeah, do you have any vegetarian options?” Naomi asks him. “Something without Pokemon?”

“Oh, yes, certainly,” the waiter says. He presses a button on my menu and many of the dishes disappear, to be replaced by more reasonable alternatives. “In that case, I would recommend this one,” he says, pointing to one of the options.

“We’ll take it!” Naomi tells him enthusiastically. She looks across the table and smiles. “The portions are huge here, so we can just share it.”

We talk for awhile while we wait for the food to arrive and I can feel my heart beating harder and harder in my chest. _Why would she bring me here?_ Does she feel the same fire burning inside that I do? I need to tell her. But what if she doesn’t?

“Hey, are you listening?” Naomi asks.

“Sorry, what?” I shake my thoughts away and turn my attention back to her. She’s waving her fork in front of my face with a piece of tomato on the tip of it.

“I said, ‘you should try these tomatoes.’ They’re really good.” She holds her fork out and I bite the tomato off. It tastes amazing. “You like?” she asks.

“Mhm.” I nod as I chew. “That was the best tomato I’ve ever tasted!” I tell her once I swallow. The same goes for the rest of the dish. It’s the best meal I’ve had in my life. I don’t want to have it with anyone else but Naomi.

“That was delicious,” I announce after we finish eating.

“I’m glad you liked it,” Naomi says. She places her hand on my arm. I feel a rush of excitement at her touch.

I place my other hand on top of hers. “Thank you for this,” I tell her. _Please let this mean something_. It _has_ to.

“It was my pleasure.” Her smiling face fills me with such joy. “Oh, hang on,” she says. She leans across the table and touches my face with one of her fingers. “You’ve got a little something on you.” She wipes a droplet of sauce off my cheek and licks it off her finger. I feel like I’m going to melt into a puddle of happiness.

Naomi pays for the food and then we leave. We walk along the road in the cool evening air together. As we near her apartment, her hand brushes past mine and I grab hold. I have to tell her. “Naomi… I… I wanted to tell you that…” _C’mon, spit it out already._ “I just want to say that I…” _Wait._ What if she says no? I don’t know what to do. “I’m really glad that I met you.” _What a stupid thing to say._  
  
“Me too,” she replies. “I had a lot of fun tonight. I hope you did too.”

“Yeah,” I tell her. “I did. Thank you.”

“Goodnight, Alex.” We share a hug before we part ways. _Why didn’t you just tell her, stupid?  
_

* * *

The days continue to fly by. I have never felt like this before. I can see a happy life with Naomi. All the pain is gone. It feels so right. Yet I can’t seem to tell her how I feel. I look out at the sunset, then over to Naomi. We’re sitting on the roof of her apartment building, just talking. Like we always do. 

“I’ll be leaving soon,” Naomi suddenly says. “We’re going back to Alliance space.”

I move my hand across Raj’s words, now immortalized on my skin. I gave the necklace to Naomi so I needed another way to remember him. I had that thing he always said tattooed on my arm. “There is no Darkness Without Light.” _What do I do Raj?_ I have to tell her now before it’s too late. I stand up and look Naomi in the eye.

“I… I want you to take me with you,” I tell her. “When you go… I have no reason to stay here. For the past few years, I’ve wanted so desperately to get away from here… Y’know, so I could look for my Dad… but now I only want to leave so that I can stay with you.”

“What are you saying?” she asks. She too stands.

I grab her hands. “Ever since I met you… You make me feel so _alive_. Whenever I’m around you, my heart… it…” I can’t seem to find the right words to say. I lean closer. I feel a wave a energy move across my skin as our lips touch. In this moment nothing else matters, only me and Naomi. I’d give up on finding Dad just to stay here forever.

And then it’s over. She pulls away. She blinks, then opens her mouth, but no words come out.

“Please… I need to know if you feel the same way,” I tell her.

“Alex… You saved my life,” she tells me. “And the things you do… they’re incredible. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t feel some kind of attraction to you, but… it just wouldn’t work out.”

“But you took me to dinner, and I thought-”

“Oh, God, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to lead you on… I- I just wanted to do something nice for you.”

“But _why_?” This can’t be happening. “We can figure something out. I’ll do whatever it takes.” Tears are streaming down my face. Every second stretches on in agony.

“I- I’m sorry… but… there’s someone else…”

Time stops for a few moments, and my blood runs cold. My hands begin to shake, and in the long silence the only thing I hear is the cry of a lone Murkrow in the distance. Finally, my mouth begins to move again.

“What do you mean? I don’t understand!” I know it’s a lie the moment it leaves my mouth. But it _can’t_ be…

“Listen to me, Alex… you’re a nice girl, but… I just love somebody else.”

No. 

No no. No _no no no NO!_

There has to be some way to fix this. There _has_ to!

“B- but… why… you never mentioned this before,” I finally manage to sputter out. “I thought we had something! I mean… I... _I_ love you!” I place my hands on her shoulders. “I’d give up _everything_ to be with you!”

“Alex, Please…” Naomi grabs my arms and pulls them down. “You can’t just expect someone to love you just because you want them to. That’s…” She pauses for a second. It seems like an eternity as my heart is slowly crushed. “That’s just not how it works. I really do like you, but I can’t…” She let’s go and takes a step back.

“Don’t you understand?” I ask. I grab her wrists. All I want is to hold her. To be with her. “You are the only good thing in my life. You are the only good thing that has _ever_ happened to me! I can’t lose that. Not now…”

“Alex, look, we can still be friends,” she says. “But you just need to calm down… please. You’re scaring me.”

“How can we go back to being friends after all this? This isn’t how it was supposed to happen. This is-”

“Alex, stop. You’re hurting me.” She pulls her arms away, breaking my tightening grip. “You have to _stop_ this! You’re obsessed!”

“I just need to make you understand! Please!” I step closer, but she pushes me back. How is this happening? It’s all _wrong_.

“No, _you_ need to understand! I’m a person too! If you can’t accept that, then you need to just go!”

I slowly back away. Back, to the edge of the roof. I step up onto the ledge. “Without you, I have nothing!” I scream. “You’re the only thing I have left to live for!” _Why doesn’t she understand that?!_

“What are you doing!?”

“If I can’t have you, then I might as well jump! You’ve seen my scars, you know I’ll do it!” _This will make her see._

“Alex, don’t do this… Please… You need help.”

“The only thing I need is you!”

“Is this all just some desperate attempt to somehow make me love you? I told you that’s not how this works… I… I can’t do this…” She turns her back on me and begins to walk toward the stairs.

“No, please!” I shout. I run after her. “I’m sorry! I didn’t mean it!” I reach out for her, but she swats my hand away.

“Don’t touch me!” she screams. “Just go! Don’t come back!”

And then she’s gone… _What have I done?_ The tears are pouring more than ever. _No… no… this can’t be._ “No!” I feel the darkness returning. My light was shining so bright, and then it was put out in an instant.

I step back up onto the ledge and look down to the streets below. _Should I do it?_ There’s nothing left for me here… I drove the only person who cared about me away. I’m alone in a world of pain. One jump can end it all.

I look to the Sinai script inked on my arm. _There is no darkness without light._ The thought sparks through my mind. I step back from the ledge. _No. I’m not doing this again._ All these miles away and Raj still saves my life. _Dad, I’ll find you..._

* * *

It’s just another boring day. It’s been like this ever since Naomi left. For a year I’ve been searching for a new way off this planet. Nothing ever happens here. So I spend my days training with my Pokemon and scouring the street for Pokeball parts and scrap metal. It’s the only way to keep the pain at bay.

I run across the plains toward Khirpai. _Maybe today I’ll find something useful._ I vault the fence of a farm to take a little shortcut. Suddenly the ground explodes into giant dust clouds as a volley of laser fire rains down from the sky. “What the hell?” I ask as I look up toward the clouds.

 _A space battle! Here!?_ The sky is alight with explosions. First that weird monk showed up here last month and now this. Maybe Vandia’s not so boring after all. A ship breaks through the atmosphere, tumbling and turning, upside down. It rights itself at the last moment, just before it hits the ground. It tears through the cabbage field and smashes through the fence, stopping just in front of me.

“Cool…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And at long last, we have reached the end of this origin story arc. Except for the first and last scenes, this part takes places over the course of a year or so when Alex was fifteen. The first scene takes place not too long after the end of Part 2, and the last is taken directly from Chapter 1 of Volume 2, just slightly modified. When creating Alex’s backstory, I sort of wanted to focus on how she was struggling with not being able to make any progress with her goal of finding out what happened to her father. That’s why she was fighting all these street thugs. To keep herself occupied.
> 
> The idea for Naomi sort of developed out of that. Originally I had planned for her to be this friend Alex had when she was older who would sort of put the final nail in Alex’s coffin of betrayal and abandonment. But it sort of naturally progressed into a romantic plotline. It just kinda made sense. I wasn’t too surprised by this direction since two of the many characters I was inspired by in Alex’s character creation were gay (a character from an abandoned writing project of mine, who is also named Alex and is this Alex’s namesake, and Ellie from The Last of Us), so it kinda just made sense for that to carry over into Alex’s character.
> 
> However, the Naomi plotline originally looked a lot different. The first draft had them actually becoming an item and they were going to leave Vandia together, but Alex ended up missing the ship. But after redrafting with the GM, Shane's player, and Morgan's player, we ended up with what you see here in this chapter. It does a much better job of tearing at your heartstrings and devastating Alex. So major thanks to all of them for the help in this final part! Arlon’s romantic plotline was basically just “let’s have sex and then shoot some bad guys” and was sort of just a side-detail in his origin story, whereas this one was the major focus of the plot. It was a lot harder to write but I think it turned out really well in the end thanks to everyone’s help.
> 
> I had a fun time writing this three part origin story, and I hope you all enjoyed reading it and getting a glimpse into what makes Alex who she is.


	31. Volume 2, Chapter 4: The Oncoming Storm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After deciding to allow Alex to stay on their ship and hiring a new pilot, the Helix crew follows Gilgamesh's trail into hostile space.

“The Romanov Crisis continues! The conflict, ongoing for several months now, continues to escalate, expanding to Romanov territories in the Outer Rim! The radicalist group appears to be growing in power, fighting with new weapons and ships unfamiliar to Federation military analysts.”

The sounds of the news reports could be heard on the _UAS Helix_ for the past few days now. Ever since the Battle of Solace Prime, the Romanov Union had been quite unstable. The radicalist faction responsible for the Genesect attack had been rapidly growing in strength and at this point the galactic superpower had broken out into civil war.

The _Helix_ had been docked on the Federation metropolis world of Delphyne for several days as the crew was sorting out their business and preparing to travel to the location depicted on the star map on Vandia. While they had been attempting to pinpoint the exact coordinates of the location the star map was pointing to, so far they had only been able to narrow it down to Sector 18 in the Outer Rim. Unfortunately, getting there is shaping up to be a bit dicey.

“This just in! Romanov Union forces have been overrun by rebels in Outer Rim Sector 18! Several naval installations have been captured!”

The latest reports on the conflict indicated that fighting had broken out in Sector 18, a region of the Outer Rim bordering on Romanov space home to several large Romanov naval bases. The area the star map points to is on the far end of the sector, but in order to get there, the _Helix_ needs to fly through an area of space now under the control of the Romanov radicalists.

Morgan stands in the med bay watching as MARIA tends to the injured Alex lying on the medical table, thinking over the star map and the Romanov Crisis. It has been a couple of days since H had tried to kill Alex, and, since that time, Morgan, Dmitri, and Shane, agreed that the girl would be allowed to stay on the ship with them. She had proven herself to be a skilled Pokemon trainer and quite knowledgeable when it comes to Pokeballs, not to mention the fact that she doesn’t have anywhere else to go. They had also tried to reason with H, but he could not be dissuaded from attempting to kill Alex so they had left him tied up in the lab. 

“-In pain?” Alex hears Morgan ask as she begins to come to. MARIA looks up from Alex, who has just opened her eyes. “Highly probable,” the medical bot states. “Sensors indicate subject is regaining awareness. Life signs indicate the subjective experience of pain.”

“Can’t you give her any more pain medicine?” Morgan asks.

“That treatment is contraindicated. Further dosage of analgesics may interfere with assessment of neurological function. Do you wish to proceed?”

“No. That’s alright.”

Alex, of course, is way too out of it to know if she is experiencing pain, or to fully grasp the conversation Morgan is  having with the medical bot. Still experiencing the residual effects of the pain meds and sedatives, the girl is not in a very coherent state of mind. After blinking a few times, Alex realizes that there is a scary robot hovering over her. She flails her arms around and tries to push the machine away from her.

“Hey stop it! It’s trying to help you,” Morgan tells Alex, trying to calm her down. MARIA moves back and the girl stops flailing around.

“Where am I?” Alex asks Morgan.

“In the med bay. Do you remember? H tried to… hit you with lightning.”

“He tried to kill me!” Alex shouts, recalling the terrifying moment, H running along the ceiling, lighting blasting out of his hands.

“Calm down. He isn’t here. We won’t let him hurt you,” Morgan reassures Alex. “Now hold on, let MARIA do its job first.”

“Please, follow the light with your eyes,” the medical bot instructs Alex as it approaches her again.

“Tests indicate no damage to neurological function,” the bot declares after assessing Alex. While she may be a bit loopy from the drugs, she has not suffered any irreversible brain trauma.

Alex attempts to get up, but, due to the drugs, she starts wobbling around, unable to balance. Morgan quickly grabs her to keep her from following over and sits her down on the table.

“Hey don’t get up yet,” Morgan tells her. “You’re still on some pretty serious meds.”

Before they can talk any further, there is a knock on the door. Morgan opens the door and sees Shane dragging an unconscious H with him.

“What the fuck!?” Morgan screams.

“Looks like we have someone else to attend to,” Shane tells her.

“Oh my God, I guess so…” Morgan sighs. “What the hell?”

“Alex, don’t freak out,” Morgan tells Alex as Shane starts dragging H into the med bay.

“No! Get him away from me!” Alex starts screaming. “He’s gonna kill me! He’s gonna kill me!” 

She attempts to get up and run away but Morgan prevents her and pushes her back down to a sitting position. “He’s unconscious. It’s okay. He’s not going to wake up. It’s okay.”

“It looks like he tried to escape earlier and it didn’t work out,” Shane tells them.

“Okay. You get him on the table and I’ll get her out of here,” Morgan replies. She then helps Alex stand up and leads her to the crew quarters.

“This is going to be your room,” Morgan tells Alex as she brings her into Arlon’s old room and sits her down on the bed. “We’ve been talking about it and we decided you can probably stay on the ship once we deal with H.”

“Really!?”

“Yes. You seem to be pretty skilled with Pokeballs and as long as there are a few rules we can settle first, you can stay on the ship.”

“Oh my God, thank you! Thank you! Thank you!” Alex squeals, still very much under the influence of the medication, and squeezes Morgan in a tight hug.

“Yes. Okay. You’re welcome. Just try to calm down,” Morgan tells her, trying to get her to let go. Alex relaxes her grip and Morgan is able to get her to sit down again. “Now like I said, we’re going to have to lay out some rules, but it’s not a conversation you’re in a state of mind to have right now so just… stay here for a while so I can go deal with H.”

Morgan returns to the med bay and has MARIA get H all patched up but doesn’t bother with pain meds because she feels he doesn’t deserve them. Morgan already didn’t like H and the fact that he tried to kill Alex even after she and Shane repeatedly told him to stand down had really pissed her off. On top of all that, H had put himself in this situation by trying to escape, so she really has no sympathy for him at all.

* * *

With most of the business on the ship taken care of, Morgan, Shane, and Dmitri head out into the sprawling cityscape of Delphyne to continue working towards their other objective on this planet. Not only had the _Helix_ come to Delphyne for repairs and supplies, but also for a pilot. With Arlon gone, the crew is in desperate need of a good pilot. Shane had been doing well enough while they were traveling around at a leisurely pace, but if they are going to be flying through potentially hostile space they feel that they need someone with a bit more skill and finesse.

A Federation world such as Delphyne is the perfect place to recruit a pilot. The _Helix_  crew had already met with several potential candidates, but so far none had the exact qualifications they were looking for. Today the crew has three more to meet with and they are really hoping that one of them will work out. Returning once more to _The Spacebar_ , the local cantina where they had been interviewing the pilots, they enter hoping for the best.

“I am Nikolai Alkaev,” the first candidate introduces himself. The large bearded Romanov man is quite an imposing figure, his face covered in scars. “I am mercenary. I have seen much combat.”

“Great…” says Shane, not feeling very impressed. “Can you fly a ship?”

“Yes. I am pilot. I have flown many ships. Romanov. Alliance. Genevan.”

“Right… Well we’re going to meet with a few others first and then get back to you,” Morgan tells him.

As the Mercenary walks away the three look at each other and shake their heads.

“Can we even trust this guy?” Shane asks.

“I don’t think so,” Dmitri tells him. “I mean, he just _looks_ sketchy.”

“Yeah,” Shane agrees. “Let’s see if the next guy is any good.”

The next candidate looks a lot less menacing to say the least. An Alliance man of average build with his short blond hair neatly combed back. He extends his hand for a handshake as he approaches the _Helix_ crew at their table.

“Flight Lieutenant David Matthews,” he introduces himself as he shakes hands with Dmitri.

“So you’re military?” Morgan asks.

“Former Alliance Navy. I retired after completing my tour of duty. I served aboard the _UAS Stalwart_ , Alliance third fleet.”

“So you have strong knowledge of Alliance ships then?” Shane asks. “I assume flying an Alliance civilian frigate should be no problem for you.”

“Of course not. I have flown quite a few since I retired. If you hire me, I am sure I will prove myself to be an effective pilot and loyal employee.”

“Sounds good,” Morgan tells him. “But we do have one more person we would like to meet with first.”

“I understand,” Matthews tells her as he gets up from the table. “I wish you the best of luck in finding a pilot, even if you don’t hire me.”

“He seemed nice,” Dmitri observes as Matthews walks away.

“And he has naval pilot training,” Shane chimes in.

“He could be a good option,” says Morgan. “But this freelance pilot we’re meeting with is supposed to be really good.” 

“So, I hear you need a pilot,” the third candidate says as she takes a seat at the table. The Genevan woman’s piercing blue eyes look at each of the crew as she appraises her potential employers. “The name’s Minerva Ljungström, and I do consider myself to be a damn good pilot. So the question isn’t really whether or not you want me to be your pilot, because you want me to be your pilot, but rather, do _I_ want to work for _you_?”

The meeting goes on for quite a while as Minerva lays out a long list of requests and requirements. She has a medical condition and proceeds to grill the crew on whether or not their ship has the proper facilities to manage it and if they have the proper paperwork to carry the specific medication she requires, and so forth. She also lists off several other personal requirements. She seems rather high maintenance, but the crew decides that she is worth the investment and offer to hire her. However, she doesn’t seem that impressed.

“So why should I work for you?” she asks.

“Well, we’re heroes of the galaxy.” Dmitri says.

“And what’s that got to do with me? You saying I’m gonna be some big fancy hero then?”

“Well, sure,” Mogan tells her.

“Yeah we’re hunting down those responsible for the attack on Solace Prime,” Dmitri tells her.

“So it’s dangerous work then?” Minerva asks, sounding skeptical.

“Yeah, it can be dangerous,” Morgan tells her. “But we’ll pay you well and we’ll meet all your needs without asking questions. Isn’t that enough?”

“If you pilot for us, you’re going to have one really, really interesting adventure,” Shane tells her. “And you’re going to enjoy it.”

“I charge extra for dangerous work.”

“Hopefully it won’t be dangerous too often,” Shane reassures her.

“Look, we’re really just looking for someone to get us where we need to go,” Dmitri tells Minerva. “We’re going to be doing the bulk of the dangerous work.”

“Is this something illegal?”

“No,” Morgan tells her. “If you see us doing anything illegal you can leave.”

“Alright, now for the big question,” Minerva says. “Do you have Federation approval to have all the equipment and medication I need on your ship?”

“Yes,” Shane tells her, rather unconvincingly.

“Do you _really_ have all the facilities I need?”

“We _do_ have the facilities,” Morgan says. “We can give you a tour of the ship if you want.”

“Alright then,” Minerva agrees.

* * *

Morgan, Dmitri, and Shane bring Minerva back to the _Helix_ and give her a tour, showing her their wide array of labs. She seems quite impressed with the facilities.

“Well then,” Minerva says, eyeing the security door to the cryo lab. “What are some of these?” 

“One of our crew is a… very talented scientist,” Shane tells her. “And he stores his more… _delicate_ samples in there.”

“I see,” Minerva says. “I’ll need my own specialized room of course. For my medical equipment and sleeping pod.”

“That shouldn’t be a problem,” Shane tells her as he leads her to one of the _Helix_ ’s many unused rooms.

“This will do,” she tells Shane after looking over the room. “Alright, you’ve got yourself a deal.”

* * *

With Minerva on board to pilot the _Helix_ , she begins to get all her equipment moved onto the ship and set up in her room. In the meantime, Dmitri heads out to try his luck on the Wonder Trade Network again and Morgan and Shane check up on H in the med bay.

H wakes up in a lot of pain to find Morgan glaring at him.

“You are such an idiot,” Morgan scolds him.

“Not exactly,” H grunts through the pain. “By definition I’m smart, which means I’m not an idiot.”

“I’m sorry, whose definition is that anyway?” Shane asks him.

“It’s the definition of being the chosen one.”

“Right… This bullshit again.”

“Now look,” Morgan tells H, getting back on track. “We’ve already decided that Alex gets to stay on the ship. You never know, she might even be helpful.”

“Wonderful…” H sighs, clearly frustrated with this decision.

“Also,” Shane tells him. “While you were out we fixed the ship and hired a pilot and we took your share out of your funds.”

“Great. More good news… I’m going back to sleep now.”

With H more or less taken care of, Morgan goes to the Pokeball workshop and collects various parts and brings them to Alex’s room. When she gets there, she finds Alex asleep on her bed, her arms around her Umbreom, who is snuggled up against her. Even Morgan can’t help but feel a little warm and fuzzy inside after seeing this sight. As much as she would like to let Alex rest, Morgan knows that it’s important that Alex prove her usefulness to H so that he stops trying to kill her.

“Alex, wake up,” she says, tapping the sleeping girl on the shoulder.

“Huh?” Alex says as she wakes. She sits up, and looks at Morgan. She looks a bit groggy, but it is clear that she is no longer loopy from the medication.

“I’ve brought you some Pokeball parts,” Morgan explains. “I know it sounds silly, but if you can show H what you can do with Pokeballs he might stop trying to kill you.”

“So I just need to make a super awesome Pokeball and he’ll leave me alone? Why did nobody tell me this sooner!?”

“Because you were unconscious.”

“Oh… Right.” 

“Okay. I’ll leave you to work.”

Morgan then joins the rest of the crew at the bridge as the _Helix_ begins to take off. Minerva gracefully brings the ship up and flies it off into space. A short flight to the gate later and the _Helix_ is flung into warp space, en route to Sector 18.

* * *

When the _Helix_ drops out of warp space in front of the Sector 18 gate, the ship is greeted by an array of red and black heavy cruisers mounted with high tech plasma rams on the front. Lines of superheated plasma run along the edge of each ship, giving the appearance of a giant sword. Those on the bridge recognize them as radicalist Romanov ships. The ships detect the _Helix_ and begin turning, surprising quickly for heavy cruisers, toward it.

They seem to be moving to surround the ship, attempting to intimidate the crew. They appear to be lining up to prevent the _Helix_ from jumping past them. They send a warning signal warning the frigate to head back through the gate.

Shane, seated in the co-pilot seat, turns to Minerva. “Remember when I said things would get interesting?” he asks her.

Minerva glances over at him and raises an eyebrow. Shane’s mark starts glowing and a burning cold runs up his arm as he briefly pulls the ship into warp space, then drops it back out on the other side of the blockade. 

“What the hell did you just do?” Minerva asks, quite shocked at what she had just witnessed.

“I can explain later. For now just warp us out of here.”

“Uh. Your ship still thinks you’re in warp space.”

“What?” Shane asks. He checks the computer; it seems that his little stunt overheated the warp drive. “Damn. Forget warp for now, just go as fast as you can away from them.”

“Can do boss,” Minerva says as she cranks the engines to maximum and tries to put as much distance as she can between the _Helix_ and the radicalist ships.

In the meantime, the radicalist ships start turning around. It took them a few seconds to figure out what happened but they are now quickly and gracefully turning to pursue the _Helix_. 

Mogan, Dmitri, and Shane rush down to the warp drive to asses the situation. Dmitri’s Metang, which has been serving as the ship’s psychic navigator appears to be quite dazed, and the metal parts of the warp drive are glowing red. 

“Get your Metang out of there,” Shane tells Dmitri. “I have an idea.”

Shane sends out his Bergmite while Dmitri recalls Metang.

“F.R.O.S.T., use Icy Wind to cool the warp drive down!” Shane instructs his Pokemon. The Bergmite sends a blast of cold wind at the drive and the metal pieces start to glow a duller color and a layer of frost forms over parts of it. Morgan then brushes the ice off to prevent lasting damage.

“Alright, let’s see if that worked,” says Shane. “Dmitri put another of your Pokemon in there.”

“Right. Houdini, we need you to be our psychic navigator,” Dmitri says as he sends out his Kadabra. The Pokemon enters the warp drive and starts powering it up.

“Whatever you did down there worked,” Minerva tells them over to comms. “Ten minutes till we can jump. Those ships are closing in fast though. It’s a good thing you hired me. A lesser pilot wouldn’t be able to evade them.”

Morgan, Shane, and Dmitri return to the bridge and see the radicalist ships have really closed the gap. Minerva delicately weaves the _Helix_ around them to keep them from closing the ship in. They appear to be going in for a capture as opposed to blowing them up, which is good news for the _Helix_.

“Hell of a first day, huh?” Shane says to Minerva as she breaks away from their pursuers.

“Yeah. The ship’s ready to jump, where to boss?”

“Far side of the sector,” Morgan tells her. “Anywhere.”

“Anywhere it is!” Minerva says as the _Helix_ launches into warp space. “If we come out on the other end in the middle of a sun, don’t blame me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was an interesting session. The GM and Shane’s player were both participating in Global Game Jam 2015 at the time so we legitimately played in the middle of the library where all the students in our university that were participating in Game Jam were working on their games. It was the final day, so Shane’s player’s group had finished but the GM's group was still working on commits and merges in their version control when we started. He was running this session on like no sleep! In the next chapter, you will see what really happens when our GM runs a session while sleep-deprived!
> 
> So you met our new pilot! My old character, Arlon Jett was the previous pilot but since he is no longer a part of the party, we needed a new one. The GM generated for us three random NPCs of various piloting skill, hiring price, and personality. We eliminated the Romanov merc almost immediately, narrowing it down to the ex-Alliance Navy pilot or the sassy Genevan freelancer. We picked Minerva because we thought she would be better for RP. Also, she’s the best pilot of the bunch! Although not as good as Arlon, but it’s hard to beat a PC with an NPC.


	32. Volume 2, Chapter 5: The Storm Leviathan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Helix crew finds something unexpected in the depths of the ocean world of Messina.

Having narrowly escaped the clutches of the Romanov radicalists, the crew on the bridge breathe a sigh of relief as the purple and magenta light of warp space swirls around the _Helix_.

“You always have close calls like this?” Minerva asks her new employers.

“Uh… yeah,” Shane responds.

“Hey what’s all the commotion up here?” Alex asks, joining the others on the bridge.

“Oh, you know, just avoiding capture by Romanov radicalists,” Shane informs her.

“You mean you were in another space battle and didn’t tell me?!”

“Well it was less of a battle… and more just running away.”

“Aww… I wanted to see a battle up close…”

“So were you able to do anything with those balls?” Morgan asks Alex.

“Uh… sure…” says Alex, attempting to stifle a snicker.

“Oh, come on. You know what I meant,” Morgan reacts sternly.

Alex holds up a modified Pokeball and throws it down on the floor. Out pops… A table!

“You put that… inside a Pokeball?” Morgan asks.

“Mhm,” Alex answers, flashing a big grin. She catches the Pokeball as it bounces back to her.

“I think H will be impressed.”

“Wait... where did _that_ come from?” Shane asks, turning his attention back to Morgan and Alex, having missed her releasing the table from the ball.

“Shane, it came out of the Pokeball,” Morgan tells him. “She can put _things_ inside Pokeballs.”

“Well then…” says Shane, his jaw agape. “That’s… That’s impressive… That being said, this is the bridge and you might want to put that away.”

“Ok,” says Alex, still sporting a giant grin. She throws the ball at the table and “catches” it again.

“We _really_ need to show this to H,” says Morgan.

“Yeah,” Shane agrees.

They lead Alex to the Pokeball workshop where H has been working since regaining consciousness. Morgan goes in first just to be safe. “H, we have something to show you.”

“Hm?” H grunts, still focusing on his work.

“I think it will make you like that Alex girl a lot more.”

“One shot,” H tells her, still quite furious with Alex for breaking into _his_ cryo lab.

Alex steps into the room and throws the modified Pokeball again. The table pops out again, right in front of H. He just stands there staring, dumbfounded.

“I... Uh… wha… Welcome aboard!”

“I assume there will be no more problems from now on?” Morgan asks him.

“Hmm, for the moment,” he tells her. The cyborg then turns to Alex and says. “Just keep your hands off my stuff. You can mess around in here, but do not touch anything else. Especially the Genesect. Those are off limits for a reason.”

“Fine,” Alex tells him bluntly, as she continues to eye him suspiciously.

“Look, just don’t touch his stuff and you should be fine,” Morgan tells her.

“That doesn’t mean I have to like him.”

“No, it doesn’t,” Morgan agrees.

“It doesn’t mean any of us have to,” Shane chimes in, giving H an annoyed glance.

* * *

The _Helix_ drops out of warp space in the middle of nowhere, in between systems on the far end of Sector 18. “Well it’s not the middle of a sun,” Minerva says. “That’s good. So where are we going now?”

“We need to scan the area to see if we can narrow down where we need to go,” Morgan tells her. She takes a seat at the scanners and searches for anything that might give them a clue.

“Hey, if you need to take a break after that, feel free,” Shane tells Minerva

“First day combat is not usually the way to get your average pilot to settle in. Fortunately for you, I’m not your average pilot.”

“Hey it wasn’t really combat. Nobody got shot,” Morgan says.

“It was _melee combat in space_. I normally charge extra for _melee combat in space_.”

“Here. I think I got something,” Morgan speaks up. “The Astaranth System. It’s a slim chance, but this one is giving the most favorable readings.”

“Alright,” Minerva says. “Astaranth System it is.” She fires up the warp drive and takes the _Helix_ back into warp space.

“What are we looking for out here anyway?” Alex asks.

“We’re looking for that Gilgamesh guy we asked you about,” Morgan tells her.

“And he’s here?”

“Probably.”

“You don’t even _know_?”

“It’s the best we’ve got. We went to Vandia and we didn’t know if he was there but it gave us clues to where he might be.”

“It also gave us her…” H chimes in, looking at Alex.

“Hey!” Alex shouts at him. “You’re just a stupid… _murderface_!”

“Murderface, possibly. Murder is just something that must happen sometimes. Stupid, I am not. By pure definition, as we have already gone over.”

“You’re weird.”

“Which is why I am perfect.”

Alex just shakes her head and turns her attention back to the viewport. She stares out at the flowing streaks of blue and purple of warp space as the ship approaches the Astaranth System.

* * *

The _Helix_ drops out of warp space a short while later in the Astaranth System, which only contains a handful of planets. The one closest to Astaranth, the brightly burning star at the center, is a molten mass of rock that is most certainly not the location they are looking for. The second is a stormy, inhospitable ocean world with only a scattering of islands. Much further away are a large gas giant and a small frozen rock.

A quick scan reveals that the only life signs in the system are located on the ocean world, known as Messina. Minerva flies the _Helix_ through the planet’s volatile atmosphere, breaking through the dark clouds, but staying well above the choppy waters below. Messina’s atmosphere is full of charged particles, resulting in constant lightning storms. A ship without shields would do well to avoid the planet. If that weren’t enough, the gravitational pull of the planet’s two moons, dubbed Scylla and Charybdis by space travelers, on the massive ocean results in unpredictable tidal currents and turbulent waves. Minerva spots an island large enough to fit the _Helix_ and sets the ship down.

“Most of the life signs appear to be in some sort of underground cave network,” Morgan tells the crew. “If Gilgamesh were here, I bet that’s where he’d be. There seems to be an entrance connected underwater.”

“So there are air pockets down there?” Shane asks.

“Yes,” Morgan tells him. “We should be able to breathe in the caves.”

“How do we get to there?” Alex asks.

“I have a Gyarados,” Dmitri tells her.

“But how are we supposed to breathe underwater?”

“We do have an oxygenation solution in the med bay,” Morgan responds. “If we inject ourselves with it we should be able to survive underwater long enough to get to the cavern.”

* * *

After injecting themselves with the solution, the crew disembarks, then heads for the shore of the island. Dmitri releases his Gyarados into the ocean. The large water Pokemon dives down briefly before he rises up out of the waves, awaiting instruction from his trainer.

“Ness, we need you you to give us a lift,” Dmitri tells his Gyarados before hopping onto his back. “Everyone get on.”

The rest of the team mounts up and Dmitri tells his Pokemon where they need to go.

“Hold on everyone,” he tells his companions before Ness dive down into the sea.

The Gyarados is a strong swimmer and it only takes him a few minutes to reach the underground cavern. However, the salty seas sting pretty harshly for the unprotected faces of the crew.

“Ow, my eyes!” Alex blurts out when they reach the surface inside the dark cavern.

Ness swims over to the nearby land and lets the crew dismount. Dmitri then recalls his Pokemon.

“I can’t see a damn thing,” Alex grumbles.

“I can see just fine,” H tells her.

“Yeah right,” Alex laughs at him, oblivious to the fact that he has fancy cybernetic eyes that allow him to see in the dark. “Lumiera, light the cave up!” she adds as she releases her Lampent.

The Pokemon’s ghostly blue flame illuminates the immediate area, reflecting off crystalline formations along the walls of the cave. A narrow tunnel extends from the water, deeper into the underground network of caverns.

“These crystal formations are fascinating,” H says as the crew walks down the tunnel. He touches one of them which causes electricity to start sparking out of it. It sends out a pulse and soon the nearby crystals follow suit, causing a chain reaction.

“H… What did you… do?” Shane asks.

“Don’t know,” H replies as water starts rising around them, up to their knees. “Don’t know!”

Suddenly a group of Tynamo and Chinchou start swimming down the tunnel towards them. They seem to be kind of freaked out. H jumps up and sticks his feet to the ceiling of the tunnel using a string shot grenade, so as to avoid going into augmentation shock again. Everyone sends out their Pokemon in preparation to defend themselves from the enraged Pokemon.

“Yvonne, use Future Sight!” Morgan commands her Espeon. The Pokemon focuses intently, summoning up a powerful blast of psychic energy to strike in the future.

“Wilhelm, Shadow Ball,” Dmitri instructs his Haunter, pointing at one of the Tynamo. The ghost Pokemon creates a ball of dark energy in his hands and lobs it at the Tynamo. It sends out blasts of electricity in response to the pain.

The group of angry Tynamo send out beams of electricity at Shane’s Klefki, Morgan’s Espeon, and Dmitri’s Haunter. The Haunter dodges out of the way, but both Espeon and Klefki are not as lucky.

“K.E.Y.S., use Flash Cannon!” Shane instructs his Klefki. A blinding light shoots out of the small Pokemon and hits another of the Tynamo.

“#8! Hit those Chinchou with Icy Wind!” H shouts at his Snorunt. The Pokemon sends a cold blast at the two Chinchou but they don’t seem to be that injured. The attack does little more than enrage them further. They both start sending out beams from their antennae towards the Snorunt. “#8, quickly use Protect!” H tells his Pokemon. The Snorunt throws up an energy shield in front of himself and deflects the incoming attack.

“Anubis, hit that Chinchou with Force Palm!” Alex commands her Lucario. The Pokemon nods and then charges forward, slamming one of the Chinchou with his raised palm. The Chinchou goes flying backwards and crashes into the wall of the tunnel.

“Alright, let’s capture this thing,” Shane says. He grabs a Great Ball and chucks it at the Tynamo that Wilhelm hit with Shadow Ball. The Pokemon is caught with not so much as a struggle.

“This is how you catch a Pokemon!” H shouts as he pulls out his Pokeball cannon. He shoots a Great Ball at the Chinchou that Anubis knocked into the wall and captures it easily.

“I want to catch something too!” Alex shouts. She pulls out a Great Ball out of her bag and throws it at one of the Tynamo. The ball slams shut before the Pokemon even knows what happened.

The tunnel starts rumbling and the water starts rising. The remaining Pokemon seem to be even more agitated than before. The sole remaining Tynamo seems to be the most agitated as it swims back and forth. Suddenly Yvonne’s Future Sight attack blasts into it, and knocks it into the wall.

“Might as well catch it,” Morgan says to no one in particular. She throws a Pokeball at it and captures it.

“Wilhelm, Shadow Ball,” Dmitri instructs his Haunter. Wilhelm sends out another ball of dark energy at the remaining Chinchou.

“Great. Now it’s my turn!” Alex shouts. She pulls out another Great Ball and throws it at the Chinchou. The ball pulls the Pokemon inside, shakes a few times, then falls still. “Awesome! Two at once!”

Suddenly, even more water begins rushing up the tunnel. The water is well past waist level now and it’s getting even harder to resist it. The tunnel starts rumbling even more frequently as the water continues to rise. The crew recalls their Pokemon so that they aren’t washed away.

“I think something bad is coming,” Shane says to his crewmates as the crystals along the wall start sparking again.

“Let’s find out what it is!”  Alex shouts. She stops resisting and lets the current pull her along. “Weeee!!” her voice echoes back to the rest of the crew as she floats away.

“Goddamn it…” Shane sighs. He stops resisting the current and allows the water to pull him after Alex. Seeing this, H cuts himself down and drops into the water. The current drags him after the others. Dmitri follows soon afterward. Morgan, however, tries to fight, but the current knocks her over and pulls her along with everyone else.

The walls of the tunnel start crumbling around them as the water continues to drag them. They start flowing toward a small opening at the end of the tunnel. Just before they slam into it, the hole opens up, allowing them to pass through. The current spits them out into a massive pool of water inside a gigantic open cavern which extends way up above their heads. Storm clouds swirl around near the top, pouring rain down into the giant pool of water below. Several large electric crystals protrude from the walls, some low enough for the crew climb up on.

While the crew tries to get their bearings, something massive starts glowing at the depths of the pool. A giant black creature with glowing bands of light lining its massive form. A leviathan rising from the deep, dark, bowels of Messina.

“Hurry!” Morgan shouts. “We need to get out of the water!”

The crew quickly scatters to the edges of the cavern and they climb up on the electric crystals. Unfortunately for H, as soon as he touches one, his augmentations start shorting out. He quickly lets go before they shut down.

“Dmitri, I have an idea!” he shouts to his nearby Romanov companion who has climbed up onto the crystal. “Send out Metang!”

Dmitri throws out his Metang and directs it to get H. H climbs up on top of it and it floats back up to the crystal, allowing H to avoid getting hit with the electricity. The others, having climbed up on to crystals of their own, also send out their Pokemon.

The rain intensifies as the massive sea beast breaks the surface of the pool, surrounding itself in a veil of water.

“#6, use Mud-Slap!” H commands his Helioptile. The electric lizard launches mud at the giant creature. The Helioptile doesn’t appear to affect the leviathan, but he does succeed  in obscuring its vision by getting mud in its eyes.

“Jean, use Thunder Wave and immobilize it!” Morgan shouts. Her Pikachu shoots out a burst of electricity at the sea monster, causing sparks to flow along its body.

“Maine, Flash Cannon!” Dmitri orders his Metang. While it can’t move very far with H on top of it, the Metang can still attack the leviathan from a distance. The Pokemon launches a brilliantly bright beam at the giant creature in the center of the chamber, lightly grazing its hide.

“S.P.I.K.E., use Leech Seed!” Shane instructs his Cacnea. The Cactus Pokemon fires a batch of seeds at the sea monster but they fall short and land in the water.

“Alright, Ebony, use Assurance and hit that thing hard!” Alex shouts from her perch on a crystal immediately in front of the leviathan. Her Umbreon leaps into the air and slams down on the creature, dealing a pretty heavy blow, then rebounds off of it, back onto the crystal.

H then starts charging up electricity in his arm again, preparing to blast the giant beast with all his might. His eyes start glowing and his body starts sparking off electricity as he prepares his attack.

“#6! Mud-Slap it again!” H shouts as he continues to charge. His Helioptile launches another blast of mud at the beast, further obfuscating its vision.

“Jean, Electro Ball!” Morgan commands her Pokemon. The electric mouse charges up a ball of electricity and flings it at the sea beast, but it goes flying off into the wall, causing some rocks to fall down into the pool.

Sensing the buildup of electricity, the monster turns to face H. It lets out a mighty roar as a giant bolt of lightning strikes down from the clouds and crashes down upon H. The blast instantly knocks out Maine and #6, and sends H into a massive augmentation shock. He falls forwards and lands in the cold water, his unconscious body floating in the waves.

Dmitri quickly recalls his fainted Metang and sends out his Haunter. “Wilhelm, Shadow Ball!” he instructs him. The ghostly being launches a blast of shadowy energy at the leviathan and lands a direct hit. The beast looks to be wearing down a bit.

“S.P.I.K.E., use Leech Seed again!” Shane shouts. This time the Cacnea lands the seeds on the giant creature, allowing him to start draining energy from it.

“Ebony, you know what to do!” Alex shouts to her Pokemon. “Hit it with Assurance again!” The Umbreon once again leaps at the leviathan and lands another hit.

“Jean, Volt Tackle it!” Morgan commands. Her Pikachu starts sprinting, charging up electricity as he goes. Jean leaps into the air, and slams into the sea monster. There is a loud crash as the Pokemon makes contact. The creature lets out another roar, then sends a massive blast of water from the pool into the Pikachu. It collides at such force that it sends Jean flying into the wall, knocking him out. Morgan, who had managed to protect herself with an energy shield, recalls her injured Pokemon.

“Ebony, use Assurance again!” Alex commands her Pokemon. The Umbreon lands one more hit but this time it doesn’t seem to be as hurt from the attack.

Before anyone can do anything else, the beast rears its head and dives down, deep into the depths of the pool, granting the crew a temporary respite. However, they get the feeling that the leviathan will soon return.

Thinking quickly, Dmitri decides to use his fishing rod to attempt to reel H into safety. In the meantime, the others take time to catch a breath and switch out their Pokemon.

Dmitri throws out the line and it lands on H, but it slides off. As it starts to sink, the line suddenly pulls taught; something has been hooked. Whatever it is, it’s massive and putting up a fight.

Suddenly, a Wailord breaches the surface, flying several feet above the surface of the water. Before anyone has even a moment to react, the leviathan flies out of the water at incredible speed, swallowing the Wailord whole! The force of the leviathan pulls Dmitri into the water as the rod is ripped from his hands.

Dmitri swims over to H, then starts pulling him towards the edge of the pool so he can get him out, in the meantime he commands his Haunter to attack the leviathan. “Wilhelm, Shadow Ball!” The Haunter lobs another ball of dark energy at the beast, which appears to weaken it even further.

The massive sea creature sets its sights on the Umbreon who had been slowly whittling away at it and decides to take her out. It roars as it summons a lightning bolt strikes down from the clouds, landing squarely in the middle of the crystal Alex and Ebony are standing on. Not again!  
The thought races through Alex’s mind as volts of electricity course through her and her Pokemon. When the sparks dissipate, both of them look quite worn down.

“K.E.Y.S., use Flash Cannon!” “Frederic, use Absorb!” Shane and Morgan command their Pokemon. Both Shane’s Klefki and Morgan’s Grovyle launch their attacks, but the leviathan doesn’t seem that bothered.

“Ebony! Use Assurance!” Alex manages to shout, still recovering from the hit she took. Her Umbreon leaps at the leviathan once more, but, due to her injuries, goes flying past it and lands in the water. “Good job girl, that’s enough for now!” Alex says as she recalls her Pokemon. “It’s your turn now Okuma!” She throws out another Pokeball, releasing her Joltik to carry on the fight.

“Wilhelm, help me up!” Dmitri commands his Pokemon. The Haunter helps pull his trainer, who is holding onto the cliff edge, up but Dmitri loses grip on H in the process. The unconscious cyborg falls into the water and starts to sink.

The chamber starts to cool off as a blue light starts to glow in the beast’s mouth. A massive torrent of snow and ice blast out of its gaping jaws, but the attack blows up in its face. The water surrounding the leviathan freezes over, trapping it in place.

“ _Yes_ ,” Shane says, feeling a rush from this stroke of luck. “K.E.Y.S., hit it with Fairy Wind while it’s trapped!” His Klefki sends a blast of wind at the frozen leviathan which can do nothing to avoid the attack. Shane then recalls his Pokemon and sends out his Clefable.

“Okuma, use Electroweb!” Alex commands her Joltik. The furry little electric bug shoots out an electrified web at the trapped beast, covering over the top of the creature. Sparks fly out of the web, further wearing down the leviathan.

“Wilhelm, Confuse Ray!” Dmitri instructs his Haunter. Beams of flashing light fly out of the ghost’s eyes and strike the creature. It’s eyes start darting around in confusion but it can’t do much in its current state.

“Okuma, now use String Shot!” The bug launches even more webbing at the leviathan, trapping it even further in a shell of ice and webbing.

“R.A.G.E., use Dazzling Gleam!” Shane instructs his Clefable. It sends out a brilliant light that further damages the beast. It looks very worn out at this point.

“Just go down already!” Morgan shouts as she blasts the creature with psychic energy.

“Night, night,” Dmitri says, using his psychic powers to put the leviathan to sleep. “And now for the capture.” He pulls a Great Ball out and throws it at the creature. The ball shakes violently for several seconds before the leviathan pops out. 

“Now it’s all mine!” Alex declares as she pulls out a modified Great Ball. “I made this thing just for a time like this!” One of the first tricks she had learned was tinkering with the casing of a Pokeball to improve its effectiveness and it had paid off several times before. Today is going to be her lucky day; she can feel it. Alex lobs the ball as hard as she can. It flies through the air and strikes the leviathan dead on, pulling it inside. The ball shakes a couple times before falling still on the ice.

“WOOOOOOOOOO!!” Alex shouts at the top of her lungs, throwing her hands up in the air in victory. She jumps down onto the ice and claims her prize. “Oh my God, that was _AWESOME_!” she exclaims in an almost sing-songy fashion. “Did you guys see that!? I Caught that thing!”

“Yes. Very good,” Shane tells her, sounding a bit disappointed that he didn’t get the chance to catch it. “But someone really needs to get H out of there.” 

“Ness, Get H out of the water!” Dmitri shouts, throwing out his Gyarados. He jumps on his back and rides the Pokemon down to pick up H. “I’ll take him back to the ship, you guys go find Gilgamesh,” Dmitri tells his comrades upon returning to the surface. “Ness found a way back to the open water from down there.”

* * *

With the leviathan captured, the electricity pulsing through the crystals starts to dissipate. The cracks in the walls begin to seal themselves shut again and the water level lowers substantially. However, the way the crew came in has sealed itself as well. Just as it seems that the crew is trapped, a new tunnel opens on the other end of the chamber.

“I guess we’re going this way,” Shane says, leading Morgan and Alex into the tunnel.

After a few feet, the tunnel starts leading upward with what seems to be a staircase. It’s hard to tell if the steps are a natural formation or if someone created them. The trio spends several minutes ascending before the tunnel leads to a branching pathway. Daylight seems to be emanating from two of them, while the third remains dark.

“There was a surface entrance!?” Morgan shouts, clearly frustrated. “We could have entered through here?!”

“But then I wouldn’t have caught that sea monster!” Alex shouts. “It was totally worth it.”

“No use dwelling on it now,” Shane tells Morgan. “Now which way do we go?”

“This way!” Alex declares as she starts walking down the dark tunnel. “Clearly if this Gilgamesh guy was here he would have gone this way.” Morgan and Shane look at each other and shrug. Alex’s reasoning seems to be pretty sound so they follow her deeper into the caves.

After several minutes, the tunnel opens up into a large chamber. A bald man in black robes sits cross-legged at the far end of the chamber, looking up at what appears to be a large stone door carved into the rock face. Glowing runes shimmer along the door’s surface. The runes start to dim and the glow fades away. The man, who had been sitting quite still, shows a noticeable reaction. He does not appear to have expected this.

“Hey!” Alex yells across the chamber, as she walks further in. Morgan just shakes her head and follows. She had wanted to spend at least a few minutes observing Gilgamesh to see what he was doing. Gilgamesh turns around and sees the trio who have just entered the room. He silently nods at them and stands up as they approach.

“Hey. We were looking for you,” Morgan tells him as they reach conversing distance.

“Oh?” Gilgamesh asked, his curiosity piqued.

“Well, you came here because of the inscription on Vandia right?” Morgan asks.

“Yes,” Gilgamesh tells her. “And it appears that you followed my trail.”

“Yeah… well there are some things we wanted to ask you… and we were hoping to maybe get a badge while we were here.”

“I see… So you’re looking for a gym challenge then?”

“Not at this exact moment, but yes.”

“So what is this thing?” Alex blurts out, pointing at the massive door behind Gilgamesh.

“Until now it has been sealed… but it would appear that the mysterious force that protects this place has been removed… I assume that you may have… had something to do with that. The legends speak of an ancient and powerful Pokemon; the Storm Leviathan they call it.”

“Umm… I… _may_ … have caught it,” Alex tells him.

“I see…”

“Aren’t you gonna open it?” Alex asks.

“I will… in time.”

“Can that time be now?” Shane asks.

“Let us see if you are worthy first,” he says and starts walking toward the exit. “Come.”

Shane walks up to the door and pushes against it with all his might. He grunts and groans, but nothing seems to happen.

“You’re an idiot,” Alex tells him, turning and leaving the room to follow Gilgamesh. Shane gives up and follows Morgan and Alex as they go after Gilgamesh.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, yeah, I caught a shiny Primal Kyogre! It's also type-shifted Water/Electric! We all wanted it, but I caught it! One of Alex's classes allows me to improve my Pokeballs to make them more effective, among other things. It was a good thing I decided to modify some Great Balls before we left the ship.
> 
> The whole encounter was completely unplanned too! When we entered the underwater cave network H’s player rolled a nat 0 on the roll for wild Pokemon and since we were in such a thematically appropriate location… Shiny Primal Water/Electric Kyogre! What a battle it was! Paralyzed, frozen, confused, stuck, and asleep. Five status conditions. Five! That’s how you catch a legendary in PTU, folks.
> 
> H’s player did all the silly things this time around! When I revealed the Pokeball that could store non-living matter, he legitimately walked away from the table. He had H trying to do that for months but he never succeeded because as a player he didn’t think it was possible in this system. Everyone else knew it was in the book for the system! It’s in the sci-fi expansion specifically. As a Jailbreaker, the class that lets you modify Pokeballs that I just mentioned, I was able to make it happen! 
> 
> And of course he caused the Kyogre encounter with that low roll! And you know what he did? He elected to go into major augmentation shock! The GM was willing to let him just take a bit of damage from the crystals so he wouldn’t die but he said no. And then he decided that he fell into the water even after the GM said he could have just fallen onto the ground! How silly is that!?


	33. Volume 2, Chapter 6: The Student of the Warp

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Having found Gilgamesh, the Helix crew challenges the aging psychic type Gym Leader to a battle after he shares his knowledge with them.

Gilgamesh leads Morgan, Shane, and Alex out of the tunnels and into a small and narrow canyon. Slivers of daylight flit through the jagged rocks above and reflect off of the electrical crystals embedded in its walls. The group travels in silence for a while before arriving in an open area in the canyon where Gilgamesh landed his meditation sphere.

Gilgamesh opens the sphere and motions the other three to board. The monk takes a seat on the floor in the center of the sphere and uses his strong psychic abilities to fly the sphere out of the canyon, off toward the _Helix_.

After Gilgamesh lands the sphere, Alex and Shane return to the _Helix_ to heal their Pokemon in preparation for the coming battle. Morgan, however, stays behind. She has questions. Questions only Gilgamesh can answer.

“Something troubles you,” says Gilgamesh. His eyes close as he appears to take in the very universe. “You have seen more in these past few months than you have in your lifetime. Your eyes have been opened.”

Morgan relaxes a bit. It feels strange to her, but talking to Gilgamesh is somehow comforting. She has the feeling that, just by looking at her, he understands things she will never be able to vocalize. “I’ve been… _troubled_ a lot recently.” It doesn’t seem quite the right word to describe everything she had experienced, but Morgan isn’t even sure there is an adequate word. “I feel… dread. I dread everything. Sometimes worse, never better. And I have seen things. Known things. Things I shouldn’t have. I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”

“What you describe is not uncommon. When Man first ate of the Tree, he gained Knowledge.  Of Good and Evil, of Will, but also of Power. He learned the power offered from the Tree of Life, and has hungered for its fruit ever since.” Gilgamesh turns to the viewport, watching the raging storm outside.

“It is the knowledge, the hunger, and the fear of this power that lead to the ruination of worlds just such as this,” he says, looking back to Morgan. “Like many others from my home, those who have gazed into its heart, you now see life and power clearly; you now _know_ power. What you will do with this gift is up to you, and you alone.”

“But what’s _wrong_ with me?!” Morgan cries. This is what she had been most afraid of; even as she was doing her own research, there had always come a point where she could no longer follow along, Sinai databases where it seemed everyone was speaking in tongues. And now Gilgamesh is doing it too! Morgan doesn’t want to hear any more mumbo-jumbo about ‘looking inward’ and ‘harnessing her power,’ all she wants to know is-

“How do I make it stop?!” She dimly realizes she is yelling, and a part of her is afraid that someone will hear. It is no match, however, for the much greater part now swelling with emotion.

“True knowledge cannot be destroyed nor forgotten. You cannot stop it, but you can control it.” He sits down where he stands, centering himself. “Knowledge can be a burden. If you fill yourself with doubts and questions of ‘what if,’ it will consume you.”

He pauses to reflect on the raging storm barraging the viewport.

“Or you can open yourself to the truth. Accept what you have seen and what has happened to you, and you will able to _apply_ your knowledge. You already Know. Now you must Understand.”

* * *

Frustrated by the conversation she had with Gilgamesh, Morgan returns to the _Helix_. She heads to the med bay to make sure that MARIA saw to H’s injuries. She finds H on the table, hooked up to an IV, receiving medication. He appears to be regaining consciousness.

“What happened!?” H shouts, bolting upright. “Wait, where’s the thing!? Where did it go?! Wha- Where am I?” He looks around frantically and sees Morgan and Dmitri standing nearby.

“Relax,” Morgan tells him sternly. “You’re in the med bay.”

“What happened to the sea monster thing?”

“The new girl caught it,” Dmitri tells him.

“Come again?”

“The new girl caught it,” Morgan repeats.

“No… she didn’t,” H says incredulously.

“You were struck by lightning and fell into the water unconscious… I suppose that means you wouldn’t know… but she did,” Morgan tells him.

“Hmm,” says H. “I’m going to wake up now.” He then stands up and bashes his head into the table. “Ow. Aww… I’m not dreaming…” He is unable to fathom the fact that Alex actually did something that he considers "correct."

“Maybe if you’re nice, she’ll let you see it,” Morgan continues.

“Wait… but she caught that…” H mumbles to himself, ignoring Morgan. “AH!” He suddenly blurts out. “Wonderful. It seems I actually did make a mistake. That’s intriguing. Now, where’s that leviathan?”

“Well,” says Morgan. “I don’t know where Alex went, but we found Gilgamesh.”

“You don’t know where she is on the ship?” H asks. He immediately jumps up and runs out of the room. He lets out a howl of pain as the IV rips out of his arm, leaving a small spattering of blood on the floor. He runs to the cryo lab only to find it sealed up tight.

“Hmm… Not here. That’s good,” H mumbles to himself. He searches the other labs for Alex, but finds no trace of her so he heads off to the other wing of the ship where the personal quarters are located.

* * *

While everyone had found some way to occupy themselves, Alex had been aimlessly wandering about the ship. She finds her way to the bridge and plops herself down in the co-pilot seat.

“Sup?” she asks Minerva.

“Not much,” the pilot answers, not even turning to look at the girl.

“You don’t say much, do you?” Alex asks her.

“I’ve never been one for small talk,” is all Minerva says, fiddling with the controls.

“There you are!” H shouts, as he finally arrives on the bridge, having searched everywhere else.

“What do you want Murderface?” Alex asks him as she spins herself around in the swivel chair.

“Did you catch that thing back there?”

“Yes.”

“It seems I’ve been wrong about you. I… I made… a _mistake_. I’m… sorry,” H tells her. It seems pretty apparent that it was very difficult for him to admit that. “It seems fate has paired you with us for… some reason, and you have more skills than I gave you credit for, so… nice job.”

“Thanks… I guess?” Alex replies, feeling a bit confused by H’s words. If she had known the man better she would realize how odd an occurrence H actually apologizing for something is.

“But stay away from _my_ stuff.”

“Well… you- you stay away from my stuff.”

“Really…? When can I see that leviathan? Fascinating research subject.”

“You’re not experimenting on him!”

“I’m not experimenting on it. I’m simply going to observe it… and poke it with a few tools… completely harmless.”

“No.”

“You’re getting in the way of science. Fine. See you around,” H tells her before departing the bridge.

* * *

Shane sits in the empty room that is soon to be his warp lab, contemplating the mark given to him by Giratina. After quite some time, it suddenly dawns on him that there is a warp expert right here who can answer his questions.

Shane departs from the _Helix_ and makes the brief trek through the storm to Gilgamesh’s meditation sphere. He enters the sphere to find the monk sitting on the floor in the center. Gilgamesh looks up as Shane approaches.

“So… As you can probably tell, I’ve had a pretty… _interesting_ … time since we last talked,” Shane says to Gilgamesh, indicating the mark clearly showing on his arm. “And, given the new range of power to which I have access, I would like to learn how to better control it. Can you help me with that or... at least tell me what I can do to help myself?”

Gilgamesh looks to be preparing to give Shane some more of his spiritual bullshit, but Shane clarifies before he gets the chance to say anything.

“I mean like actively learning about the Warp. I’m talking about a warp lab, if that’s even possible.”

“Ah,” says Gilgamesh, glancing around the room. “Maybe something like this.”

Shane looks around the room as well and gets a feel for what Gilgamesh is suggesting. The thing that catches Shane’s eye is what appears to be a small warp drive in the center of the room. He gets the sense that it isn’t there so much as to fly the ship through warp space as it is to mess around with and gain a better understanding of the Warp.

“So what exactly is this stuff?” Shane asks.

“This is my sphere’s warp drive,” Gilgamesh tells him. “I meditate here and focus to move the ship”

Shane looks at the warp drive,  then back to Gilgamesh, a look of confusion on his face. “You power the ship by yourself?”

“Yes, with my mind. It takes decades of dedicated practice and focus.”

“Right… Got it.” Shane responds, still feel quite confused. “Do you know where I could like… get one of these mini warp drive thingies?”

“Most likely from Sinai monks,” Gilgamesh tells him.

Shane appears to be pretty visibly shaken up at the mention of Sinai and Gilgamesh picks up on his distress. “Is there a problem?”

“Just… something from my past.”

“I understand.”

Shane stands there in awkward silence for a moment, considering whether or not he should return to the ship. It is at this moment that the rest of the crew enters the meditation sphere.

“Ugh. I hate the rain,” Alex complains as she sweeps away the wet hair matted against her face.

“That’s why you need to have amazing hair,” H tells her, flipping his hair, the spikes doing little more than wobbling in place.

“How is that supposed to help?” Alex asks.

“It doesn’t,” H tells her.

“Yeah. Amazing hair doesn’t do shit,” Alex grumbles as she wrings the water out of her ponytail.

Gilgamesh looks at the newcomers expectantly, sensing that they have many questions they wish to ask. Dmitri is the first to speak up.

“While we were lost in warp space… I’m not sure if it was warp madness… but I started to see visions of ruins and inscriptions. I made drawings of them. You know of these things, yes?”

“There are many ruins in this galaxy,” Gilgamesh tells him. “Do you still have these drawings?”

“No. But I did take pictures,” Dmitri tells him. He walks over to Gilgamesh and shows him the pictures that he took with his Pokedex.

The monk takes the Dex from Dmitri and begins to look through the pictures. Dmitri notices a minute reaction in Gilgamesh’s face but he can’t quite tell what it means. Gilgamesh strokes his beard as he looks at the writings Dmitri photographed for a few more seconds.

“I need to think on this further,” Gilgamesh tells Dmitri as he hands his Pokedex back.

“I have a question too!” Alex butts in.

“Oh?” Gilgamesh asks, looking over to the girl.

“Ever heard of something called ‘the Mirror?’” Alex asked him.

At the mention of this name, Gilgamesh looks very intently at her. “Where did you hear about that?”

“My father was looking for it before he disappeared,” Alex tells him, showing him the scraps of her father’s research that she had been able to find.

Gilgamesh takes a cursory glance at the notes on Alex’s Pokedex, then he begins pacing around the sphere. “It could be…” he mumbles to himself. “Hmm…” He then turns back to Alex. “In my travels I have seen references to the ancient civilization… This is not clear exactly, but, from what I have seen, it would appear that they worshiped or revered something… The symbol of a mirror.”

“Where is it now?” Alex asks.

“There are many of these… so called mirrored temples. Ruins with these sacred mirrors inside.” He pulls out a holoscroll which depicts a diagram of what one of these temples would have looked like. It is pyramidal in shape and has an ornate mirror housed in some sort of gyroscope contraption on the top.

Alex glances as the scroll and then back to Gilgamesh. She notices a rather troubled look on his face. “What’s wrong?” she asks him.

“From what I have deciphered,” Gilgamesh tells her. “These Ancients… the followers of this Mirror… for a long time they devoted themselves to it… and then, one day, they waged war on the non-believers.” He turns and looks out the viewport, off into the stormy seas of Messina. “And they brought darkness and ruination upon their civilization. At least that is what I suspect happened as there are so few traces left behind. The texts the Sinai monks keep do not record this story.”

“Why not?” Alex asks.

“It is not a story that we carried with us from Earth and we did not initially see it when the life ships landed. It is something that only a few have learned about in their personal travels, and the Congregate has been… reluctant to listen. It is why I chose to leave the order. I find that I can… no longer sit with organized religion. I believe that everyone must find their own path.”

“Enough of this nonsense!” H suddenly shouts. “Let us engage in a Pokemon battle!”

“Very well,” says Gilgamesh. He leads the crew out of the meditation sphere, out into the open area between the ships.

* * *

The lightning cracks the sky, casting long shadows across the rocky shore as the six individuals stand out in the storm, the sound of the rain rattling off the hull of the _Helix_. The waves crash upon the rocks as Gilgamesh reaches for his Pokeballs.

“Let us see if you are worthy,” he says, casting out five Pokeballs at once. A Gardevoir, a Claydol, a Malamar, a Wobbuffet, and a Slowbro emerge and spread out across the battlefield as the crew of the Helix send out their own Pokemon.

Gilgamesh looks on in silence as his Pokemon move on their own accord, seeming to know exactly what to do. The Gardevoir moves gracefully across the battlefield, raising its arms. It charges up electricity and fires it in a beam at Dmitri's Scyther. The beam strikes the Pokemon dead on, leaving her looking quite worn out.

“Gigan, charge that Gardevoir and hit it with X-Scissor!” Dmitri commands his Scyther. She flies across the field and swipes at the Gardevoir with her blades, but the graceful Pokemon gracefully dodges out of the way.

“K.E.Y.S., use Flash Cannon!” Shane orders his Klefki, pointing at the Gardevoir. The small metal Pokemon moves up as he charges up a brilliant light. He fires at the Gardevoir and hits it with a glancing blow.

“Hector, use Bite!” Morgan commands her Croconaw. He runs forward and clamps his jaws around his foe. It appears quite beat up but still stays standing.

The Malamar and the Claydol move across the field, and line themselves up for attacks. The Malamar’s eyes flash and Gigan slumps to the ground, asleep. The Claydol then fires a powerful beam of light. It blasts through Morgan’s Croconaw and also hits Alex’s Umbreon on the far side of the battlefield. Both Pokemon stay standing after the hit, but the Croconaw appears a bit weakened by the attack.

“Ebony, use Feint Attack!” Alex commands her Pokemon, pointing at the injured Gardevoir. “Finish it off!” The Umbreon charges forward and slams into the Gardevoir, knocking it out of the fight.

The Slowbro hangs back and fires a beam of ice at the sleeping Scyther, taking her out of the fight. The Wobbuffet waddles forward and releases a protective aura around the rest of Gilgamesh’s team.

“#1, now it’s your turn!” H shouts. “Hit that Malamar hard with Rock Blast!” The Rhyhorn charges across the battlefield and launches a rock at the Malamar, but the squid Pokemon dodges out of the way at the last second.

“Hector, use Waterfall on the Claydol!” Morgan commands her Pokemon. The reptilian creature charges at the giant clay pokemon and slams into it with a crash of water, dealing a pretty good chunk of damage.

“Go Harbinger! Bite that Slowbro!” Dmitri shouts as he releases his Absol. The Pokemon charges up to the Slowbro and sinks his teeth in. The Slowbro winces in pain from the bite, unable to make a move.

“K.E.Y.S., use Fairy Wind on the Malamar!” Shane orders his Pokemon. The Klefki send a blast of air at the squid, but it doesn’t appear to do anything other than annoy it. Ignoring K.E.Y.S., the Malamar charges forward and slams into Alex’s Umbreon with a superpowered attack, knocking her out.

“Damn it,” Alex mumbles as she recalls her Pokemon. “Okay Lumiera it’s your turn!” She throws out another Pokeball and her Lampent pops out. “Now use Hex on that Slowbro!” The Lampent fires a ghostly blast at the pink Pokemon, leaving it visibly shaken up.

“Now, #1, charge that Slowbro and finish it off!” H commands his Pokemon. The Rhyhorn runs at the Slowbro, but he misses and goes running past it.

“Hector, use Bite!” Morgan orders her Pokemon, pointing at the Slowbro. The Croconaw charges forward and sinks his teeth in, delivering a knock-out blow, but the thing is too dumb to realize it and stays standing.

“Harbinger, Bite the Claydol,” Dmitri commands his Pokemon. The Absol leaps at his target, but it’s surprisingly nimble and dodges out of the way.

“Lumiera, use Flame Burst!” Alex commands her Lampent. The ghostly lamp fires a jet of flame at the squid Pokemon and deals a bit of damage.

“K.E.Y.S., use Fairy Wind again!” Shane orders his Klefki. He sends another blast of air at the Malamar, but, once again, it does little more than irritate the squid. The Malamar continues to ignore K.E.Y.S., and instead charges up to Lumiera and slashes at her with its tentacles, taking down yet another of Alex’s Pokemon.

“Not again!” Alex shouts. “Diablo it’s up to you!” She throws out another Pokeball, this time releasing her Houndoom. “Use Bite!” The canine Pokemon bares his teeth and leaps at the Malamar, but it dodges out of the way.

The Claydol locks onto the newly sent out Houndoom and shoots up a blast of earth at it, dealing a pretty solid blow. The Slowbro is up next and shoots a pulse of water at #1, who had charged so far past it. The hit takes the Rhyhorn down just as the Slowbro succumbs to its own injuries and faints. H recalls his Pokemon and sends out his Swablu.

“Diablo, use Beat Up! Hit that Claydol!” Alex shouts. Her Houndoom runs up to the Claydol and encircles it along with Hector and Harbinger. The three Pokemon start wailing on it, but are unable to break through its defenses.

“K.E.Y.S., use Fairy Wind!” Shane commands his Klefki. He sends yet another blast of air at the Malamar and this time it lands the hit and deals some damage.

“#7, use Safeguard!” H orders his newly released Swablu. The small fluffy bird emits a protective aura around his allied Pokemon, much like the Wobbuffet did earlier.

Malamar rushes at Diablo with another superpowered attack and instantly knocks the Houndoom out, completely eliminating Alex from the battle. She makes a pouty face as she recalls her fainted Pokemon and looks on as the Claydol floats back and appears to be charging up for another attack.

“Harbinger, come back.” Dmitri says, recalling his Absol. “Go Wilhelm!” He throws out his Haunter, who hangs back out of range for now.

“K.E.Y.S., use Fairy Wind again!” Shane instructs his Klefki. The Pokemon sends another blast of air at the Malamar and it seems to finally be showing signs of weakening.

“Hector, use Ice Fang! Finish that Malamar off!” Morgan commands her Pokemon. The Croconaw launches himself at the Malamar, teeth coated in ice, but the slippery squid dodges out of the way yet again.

“Wilhelm, Shadow Ball,” Dmitri commands his Haunter as he points at the Malamar. The ghost Pokemon charges up a ball of dark energy and lobs it at the Malamar, finally taking it down.

The Claydol moves back in range and blasts Dmitri’s Haunter with Psychic energy. The ghostly being weathers the hit, but looks pretty drained.

“K.E.Y.S., use Flash Cannon on Claydol!” Shane commands his Pokemon. The Klefki charges up another blast of light and fires it at Claydol.

“Wilhelm, follow up with Shadow Ball!” Dmitri tells his Pokemon. The Haunter throws another ball of dark energy, but the Claydol dodges out of the way.

“Hector, use Waterfall!” Morgan shouts. Her Croconaw charges at the Claydol, but it continues to avoid getting hit.

“#7, use Sing!” H commands his Pokemon. The Swablu chirps a soothing melody, but he fails to put Claydol to sleep.

The Claydol, which has been spinning around avoiding attacks, slows down and lines up a shot. It fires another powerful beam of energy and tears through Croconaw and Swablu. Both Pokemon go down and get recalled by their trainers.

“Your turn Yvonne,” Morgan says as she releases another Espeon.

“You as well, #4!” Shouts H as he throws a Pokeball to the far edge of the battlefield. His powerful Trevenant pops out and catches Alex’s eye.

“Oh my God, you have a Groot!!” she squeals in excitement. “That’s _so_ cool!” She looks around and sees the others giving her a weird look, “Oh, _come on!_ Y'know, from _Galactic Vanguards_? Only the best movie from last year!”

“We don’t have time for movies,” Morgan tells her.

“There’s always time for movies!”

“K.E.Y.S., use Flash Cannon again!” Shane commands his Klefki, returning his focus to the battle. The Pokemon fires another blast of light at the Claydol, slowly whittling it down.

“Wilhelm, Night Shade!” Dmitri orders his Pokemon. The Haunter hits the Claydol with a blast of ghostly energy and continues the assault on the giant clay idol Pokemon.

“Yvonne, use Future Sight!” Morgan commands her Espeon. The Pokemon’s eyes glow, but nothing happens just yet.

The Claydol then fires another blast of Psychic energy at Wilhelm, taking the Haunter out of the fight. Dmitri then recalls his fallen Pokemon and sends his Absol back out.

“#4, use Growth!” H commands his giant ghost tree of a Pokemon. The Trevenant moves in closer to the fight as he increases in size.

“K.E.Y.S., use Metal Sound! Lower that Claydol’s defenses!” The Klefki makes a high pitched metallic sound that seems to shake the Claydol a bit.

Suddenly, Yvonne’s Future Sight attack appears and hits the Wobbuffet with Psychic energy. It takes the hit, but it reflects some damage back at the Espeon with a reflective coat that shimmers like a mirror.

“Harbinger, Bite,” Dmitri orders his Absol. The Pokemon runs up and bites the Claydol, but he just bounces off.

“K.E.Y.S., use Flash Cannon!” Shane shouts. His Klefki charges up one more time and fires a blast of light at the Claydol, taking it down, leaving only the Wobbuffet.

“Alright #4, build up to maximum power and slam that Wobbuffet with all you’ve got!” H commands his Trevenant. The Wobbuffet, not being able to inflict direct attacks, can do nothing but look on as the ghostly tree continues to grow in size. Suddenly the Trevenant vanishes. He appears in the sky and drops down with a powerful Phantom Force attack, completely obliterating the Wobbuffet's defenses.

“Oh my God, that was _awesome!_ ” Alex shouts. “It was all like grrrr! And then it went poof! And then it went all like _BWWWAAAAAHHHH!!!!_ ” She continues, making ridiculous sound effects and hand motions to demonstrate the final moments of the fight.

“Well done,” Gilgamesh tells the victorious _Helix_ crew as he approaches. “You have proven yourselves worthy of the Warp Badge. I also believe you to be worthy to enter the door." He then looks specifically at Shane. “It’s pull, by the way. You go on ahead, I must tend to my Pokemon.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Damn this was a long session! We legitimately went for over eight hours straight! The hilarious part is that it's not even the longest session we had. We played right through the Super Bowl because, really, what’s a sports?
> 
> After doing some RP to get some leads to pursue for our characters’ various objectives, it was time to fight Gilgamesh in a three hour combat encounter. It was such a punishing team, which the GM built knowing H had a high level Trevenant, and H’s player refused to use it! And then all the low rolls! We missed so much, especially Shane and H. This was the first time I had to fudge the outcome of a battle for the writing because, narratively speaking, what happened was so anticlimactic even if we did win. H’s player missed on all of Trevenant’s rolls for Phantom Force and had to just spam Feint Attack to win… So I was just like fuck it, for the sake of narrative this hit.
> 
> Yay pop culture references! My character is a big movie person so she’s clearly seen ever spoofy titled movie of things that exist in the real world. So yeah, Guardians of the Galaxy was a good movie so that means Alex has seen the kick-ass Pokemon version starring a Trevenant and a genetically modified Zigzagoon. This is where I initally came up with the idea, but if you've been reading along in the order I've listed these posts in the series, you've seen me flesh the idea out a little bit in Alex's origin story. And you know that it has importance to her outside of it being a good movie because of Naomi.


	34. Volume 2, Chapter 7: City of the Dead

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Helix crew finds a lost civilization buried on Messina.

The crew of the _UAS Helix_ stands in the door chamber once more, the room dimly lit by the sparking electrical crystals along the walls. The massive stone doors rise before them, making them feel small and insignificant in comparison.

“This feels like the part where the really ominous music would start playing,” Alex comments on the creepy atmosphere of the moment.

“Nonsense!” H exclaims as he approaches the doors. He and Shane each grab one of the doors and start pulling. The massive stone structures feel quite heavy but they seem to float open rather easily, as if carried by some sort of current.

Once the doors swing open, the crew enters and soon find themselves in a massive open cavern that stretches on for miles, covered in rubble and crumbling buildings and towers. Rusted wreckage of a long forgotten city. Scattered across the ground lie skeletons of Humans and Pokemon alike.

“Woah,” Alex gasps. To her it feels like something out of an apocalyptic movie scene.

“These appear to be Human remains,” H says as he examines a nearby skeleton.

“Are you serious?” Alex asks him.

“I’ve seen enough bones. These are definitely human.”

“But how is that possible?”

“These bodies were definitely here before Humanity left Earth,” says Dmitri. “But they don’t seem to be nearly as old as the ninety-two-million year old ruins we found on Vandia…”

“That’s interesting,” Alex responds. “I thought all Humans came from Earth.”

“Apparently not,” H tells her. “Hmm… There seem to be a lot more of these crystal formations here.”

“I don‘t think it is a coincidence,” says Dmitri, picking up a couple smaller crystals up off the ground and examining them. “These crystals don’t seem natural.” He moves them closer together and sparks start flying between them. He touches them together and they shatter in his hands, sending out an explosion of electricity and shards of crystal. Dmitri flails his arms around and shouts frantically at the sudden explosion in his hands.

“Well, that was a pretty dumb idea,” Alex tell him.

“I didn’t know they would blow up!”

“Hmm… interesting,” says H.

“We should move on,” Morgan tells her crewmates. “We need to find out what this place is.”

“Let’s go there!” Alex shouts, pointing at a large building in the center of the city. “That place looks important!”

“That’s actually a good idea,” Morgan agrees

The crew continues onward, moving deeper into the city, passing by more ruined buildings and skeletons. The buildings appear to have been battered by severe storms, the crumbling structures showing signs of water, wind, and lightning damage.

“Man… This place looks like _Sharpedocane 6_ …” Alex mumbles to herself.

They eventually arrive at the large building. It seems to be some sort of capitol building, the seat of this civilization’s government. Entering the structure, they see a mess of collapsing floors and walls and ruined staircases. Murals on the walls depict what appears to be the planet, although missing the storms. They get a feeling that this planet wasn’t always a treacherously stormy world.

“We should split up and explore this place,” Morgan suggests. They pair off into two groups of two while H goes off and does his own thing.

Shane and Dmitri find their way to what appears to be some sort of armory. The walls are lined with what seem to be weapons based on the electrical crystals; broken and intact swords and spears.

“Cool,” says Dmitri, picking up a rather large sword. He holds it up and gives it a few swings and then decides to take it with him.

Shane picks up a dagger and brushes it off. He notices it has some sort of inscription on it, but it is written in some script unlike any Human language he has seen before. He decides to take the dagger with him as well and then follows Dmitri out of the room.

Meanwhile, Alex and Morgan find their way to what seems like some sort of situation room. The skeletons of seemingly important government officials sit as they died, hunched over the table, deliberating over documents and technical schematics of some kind. Morgan uses her cybernetic eye to record video footage as she delicately examines whatever it is they were looking at, attempting not to touch anything for fear of damaging it. From what she can tell, it seems as if they were discussing the energy crystals and their uses as a power source but she can’t say for certain.

Alex pokes a skeleton, causing it to fall over a crumple into a pile of bones on the floor, kicking up a cloud of dust. “Oops…”

“Don’t do that!” Morgan berates her.

“Sorry.” 

“This stuff is very delicate. Don’t fool around in here.”

Having explored as much as they can in the ruined building, they all meet up back at the entrance where they find H standing outside looking up at the top of the building. He places his foot on the wall and magnetises to the metal structure and begins climbing up.

“H, stop it!” Morgan shouts. “Do you want to bring the whole place down!?”

“By scaling the most structurally sound part of the building? I’d be more likely to bring the building down trying to navigate the mess of broken stairs inside.”

He continues to climb, moving quickly up the side of the building. As he moves up higher and higher there are increasingly more lightning rods and other anti-storm measures in place. It seems like the builders of this place progressively built up protective layers around the buildings as the planet gradually became more inhospitable.

Dmitri goes off to try and find either a museum or library to see if he can learn more about this city while Shane, Morgan, and Alex follow the network of electrical crystals to an open plaza area surrounding a large crystal formation. It appears to be some sort of power generation site.

“I don’t think this would be very safe to touch,” Morgan tells Shane, seeing him looking at it.

“It would be a good idea to take this back to the ship and analyze it though,” he replies.

As the two of them discuss a plan of action, Alex just wanders around kicking some rocks. She looks back over to the capitol building and sees H running down the side of it with his extendo-legs. He reaches the bottom quickly with his giant strides and leaps off the building with a flip, bouncing off the ground on his belly-pogo. Alex just stares in confusion at what she has witnessed.

H and Dmitri meet up with everyone at the plaza area and they share their findings. From what they have been able to piece together, this civilization relied on these energy crystals for power and, in their hunger for more power, inflicted irreversible consequences on the planet, fueling the massive storms that were a bi-product of the crystals. Eventually they created an apocalyptic storm that wiped them out.

Seeing all they needed to here, the crew loads up a bunch of energy crystal samples on H’s Rhyhorn and returns to the surface.

* * *

“Well that was a city,” Shane says to Gilgamesh when they return. “Like a… _dead_ … city.”

“Interesting,” Gilgamesh replies.

“There were hundreds of Human bodies in there,” Morgan adds.

“Human? That’s interesting… How old was this city?”

“Our guess is only a few thousand years,” Dmitri tells him. “It died a lot more recently than the ruins on Vandia, but definitely before the life ships landed.”

“Hmm…” The look on his face gives the impression that this makes sense to him even though it doesn’t to the crew. Although it also seems to say that he kind of wishes that it didn’t. “It would appear that… Earth was not the only garden world.”

“Garden world?” Alex asks.

“Yes… the Garden of Eden. The Trees of Life and Knowledge… there was more than one.

“Multiple trees, multiple planets,” says H. “Wouldn’t that mean the decisions could be different? We could have intelligent Pokemon and intelligent Pokemon would solve my problems.”

“No,” Alex says bluntly. She had heard the stories many times as she grew up and knows that what H is suggesting is completely preposterous.

“Unlikely,” Gilgamesh tells H. “Humans are those that ate from the Tree of Knowledge. Pokemon are those that ate from the Tree of Life.”

“But that would mean Humans and Pokemon were one and the same at some point,” H replies.

“It would seem so.”

“Which means they can be combined once more!”

“I would doubt it. What existed before was neither Human nor Pokemon. With neither Knowledge or Power they were simply blank slates.”

“Alright… so what is a garden world anyway?”

“It would be a world that Humans and Pokemon grew up on together… Earth was not the only one.”

“Is this a garden world?” Dmitri asks.

“It would appear to be so,” Gilgamesh tells him, motioning his hand toward the massive storm brewing in the sky.  “But it seems, more often than not, Humans find ways to destroy themselves. Earth was a rare… and lucky case.”

“Wait,” says Alex. “Wouldn’t this mean that the Angels were also Humans?”

“Perhaps. That much is… unclear… If what you have said about this city is true… then this world was… seeded… long after the time of the Angels. Were the Angels also Humans? I cannot say. What I do know is that this world seems to be from around the same time as Earth. The only difference between us and them is that we made it off. It would seem their hunger for Power was too great… and it consumed them.”

“Or we just got lucky,” says H.

“Possibly.”

“If these people didn’t make it off this world then why have we found ruins on other planets, including a star map that led us here?” Dmitri asks.

“My guess would be they were left by who or whatever seeded the gardens.”

“And that would be…?” Alex asks.

“The Gardener of Eden, of course.”

“Who the hell is the Gardener of Eden?!” Dmitri shouts.

“We do not know… but I recently acquired information that… may shed light.”

“What sort of information?”

“A location.”

“Why did you come here and not go there?” Morgan asks.

“Because... I am not sure I want to find out,” he answers in a troubled tone.

“Well, I know sure as hell that I do.”

“Very well… I will transmit the coordinates to you.”

“Alright,” says Dmitri. “Before we go, did you get anywhere with those drawings I asked about?”

“I am afraid that these are markings from one of the Mirrored Temples. I wish you all luck on your journey.”

* * *

The crew returns to the _Helix_ and prepares to leave the planet. While they feel like they have made some progress, they also feel as if they now have more questions than ever before.

“Have fun in the creepy lightning cave?” Minerva asks as the crew slowly assembles on the bridge.

“We found lots of pretty rocks,” Dmitri jokes, referencing the electric crystals they had collected.

“Ooo. _Rocks_. You didn’t bring me any?”

Suddenly H walks past carrying a pile of the golden sparkling crystals.

“Oh… Those are, uh, definitely some pretty rocks you got there.”

“And they explode!” Alex adds.

“The _perfect_ thing to store on a ship! I’m thinking next to the engines?”

“So, how about we get off this puddle now?” Dmitri suggests.

“I’d like nothing more. Where to, boss?”

Minerva fires up the engines and takes off. The _Helix_ breaks through the thick cloud cover of Messina and back into the cold vacuum of space.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And thus we’ve reached the five and a half hour mark of this session. Still got over two and a half hours to get through, but that’s for Chapter 8. After that grueling gym battle we needed some nice, relaxing RP. Other Humans… That I did not see coming, but looking back when writing this last year it made sense… kind of. I got that feeling a lot in this game. The clues were there but we never saw them until after things they were hinting at happened.
> 
> This bit of the session gave us more leads to chase! We’ve got the Mirrored Temple, the coordinates related to the Gardener of Eden, and we still had that Dr. Armstrong lead. It actually took a bit of deciding what we were going to do first.
> 
> The highlight for this chunk of the session was when Gilgamesh mentioned the “Gardener of Eden.” Dmitri’s player just blurted out “Who the hell is the Gardener of Eden!?” almost instantly and we all started cracking up. Listening to the recording for this part was painful due to how loud we were laughing. Good times.


	35. Volume 2, Chapter 8: The Romanov Supremacy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Helix crew meets a dangerous new enemy on the return trip from Messina.

The _Helix_ drops out of warp space near the warp gate, having made the short jump from the Astaranth system. A squadron of Romanov radicalist heavy cruisers, this time led by a destroyer, lie in wait for the returning frigate. For the crew of the _Helix_ , this is not a surprise. The little warp stunt they pulled on the way in to avoid the radicalists had clearly caught their attention.

“We need to get through that warp gate now!” Dmitri shouts.

“Uh, Boss? They’re hailing us,” Minerva tells him, nodding at the blinking light on the console. “Wanna answer it?”

Shane answers the call and a naval officer in full black and red dress uniform standing in front of a big black and red banner with a Honedge emblazoned on it appears on the view screen. “Hello. I am Captain Lee Heilovic of the Romanov Supremacy, commander of the _RSS Envy_.” he introduces himself, a thick Romanov accent quite prominent.

“We don’t want any trouble. We just want to leave.” Morgan replies. “We didn’t come here to bother you.”

“I have received interesting reports from my subordinates of your arrival through this gate and your, shall we say, entanglement with our forces.”

“We were actively trying to not engage,” Shane tells him.

“Oh, I do not blame you. But this warp capability is interesting. We would very much like to acquire it for the Supremacy.”

“I don’t think that’s possible,” Morgan tells him.

“May we board your ship?” the captain asks.

“No,” Morgan replies coldly.

It is at this moment that Shane raises his arm, the mark from Giratina glowing its brilliant shade of purple, and raises his middle finger at the Romanov captain.

“A pity,” Heilovic responds, not recognizing the significance of Shane’s mark. He turns to a subordinate off screen. “Engage the tractor beams.”

“Uh, guys… they wanna board the ship,” Minerva says, a nervous look in her eyes.

“Well, we’re not gonna let them board the ship, now are we?” Morgan asks rhetorically.

“Good! Because this is a big problem.” She tries to dodge out of the way of the tractor beam but the _Helix_ is snared and starts getting pulled toward the Romanov destroyer. “Guys, we’re stuck in the tractor beam,” she says. “I don’t do tractor beams. I do not do tractor beams!”

“Then what did we hire you for!?” Morgan shouts at her.

“You hired me because I can avoid laser fire, and _melee_ ships that ram people!”

“I _think_ I can get us into the Warp without using a warp gate,” Shane tells her. “Can you get us back without using one?”

“I’ve never done free warp flying. _No one_ ever has.”

“We have,” Dmitri tells her.

“Well, good for you!”

Shane focuses hard on trying to pull the _Helix_ into warp space. The mark starts glowing brightly as the burning cold sensation pulses through his arm. Unfortunately, he is not able to enter warp space.

“I can’t move in a tractor beam guys. Do something!” Minerva shouts.

“We’re trying!” Morgan shouts back.

“This isn’t working!” Alex shouts. She turns to the computer she’s sitting at and tries to hack into the Destroyer’s systems remotely. She’s never attempted something like this before but she was always good with technology and computers so she knows she can do it. “I can’t find their tractor beam code, but I’m in their scanners!” Alex shouts. “They’re scanning our warp drive. And now they’re scanning their own ships,” she adds with a laugh, having redirected their scans.

“Keep trying to get control of the tractor beam,” Morgan tells her. “But we need to be prepared to fight them if they do board us.”

“I absolutely do not do hand-to-hand combat!” Minerva shouts.

“You don’t have to!” Morgan shouts back at her.

“Sir, there is problem with scanners!” a Romanov voice comes in over the comms.

“Oooh. Looks like I’m in their comms now!” Alex tells the crew. “Hey you! Romanov guy, tell them to turn the tractor beam off!” She then says to Dmitri.

“I cannot lie to save my life,” Dmitri tells her.

“Damn it. I’ll do it,” She says.

“Comrade, there is problem with tractor beam,” Alex says into the comms, trying her best to imitate the accent of Romanov characters she had seen in the movies. “We need to shut it off.”

“Who is speaking?” a voice asks. “What is name and rank?”

“Uh… Lieutenant Smirnoff?”

“What department?”

“Engineering.”

“One moment.”

There is no response after that.

“Well, it was worth a shot,” Alex says, looking over to her crewmates. “Okay… Um… I’ll try to get into the tractor beam again.” She continues to snoop around their systems, but she suddenly finds herself kicked out. “Damn it! They found me!”

“Morgan!” Dmitri shouts. “Should we try to use the Red Suns virus to weaponize the warp gate!?”

“What?” Minerva asks.

“There’s a lot of things you don’t know about us,” Shane tells her.

“Well, if it can get us out of this mess then do it!”

“What if you try flying straight at the tractor beam?” Alex asks.

“What… are you thinking?” Minerva asks her.

“Since it’s pulling us in, wouldn’t flying right at it like launch us out or something?”

“That’s not how it works! Believe me, I’ve tried.”

“What if _we_ board _their_ ship?”

“They’ve got thousands of soldiers on there,” H tells her.

“ _You_ can board their ship. I’m staying here,” Minerva responds. “You know, where I don’t _bleed_ to death!”

“Screw it, let’s do this!” H shouts. He rushes off the bridge and gets the space suit. He puts it on and then heads to the airlock. He exits the ship and dives toward the tractor beam. He lands on it but the magnetic pull of the beam latches onto his metal legs and traps him. He charges up some electricity and fires it at the tractor beam, disrupting it for second, allowing him to free his legs.

“Damn it, I’ll get him,” Shane tells his crewmates. He gets up and runs for the airlock. Ever since the battle with Gilgamesh, it felt like the powers granted by the mark had grown and the sense of terror he experienced from contemplating entering the vacuum of space had vanished.

Shane opens the airlock, then runs forward and leaps for the rapidly approaching airlock of the Romanov destroyer. He successfully lands and passes through the ray shields right into a contingent of Romanov Supremacy soldiers. He quickly uses his powers to switch places with H and finds himself in the space suit free floating outside the ship. He then teleports himself back to the destroyer. He sees the Romanov soldiers all lying on the floor, incapacitated from one of H’s electrical attacks. He looks up to see H latched onto the ceiling of the large room he finds himself in.

“You guys go help them!” Morgan tells Alex and Dmitri as the ships dock, the _Helix_ having been pulled in by the tractor beam. “I’ll stay here and try to hack into the warp gate.” The pair runs for the airlock to join H and Shane on the Romanov ship.

“Let’s disable the tractor beam,” Dmitri suggests as they regroup. The four run for the door into the next room, but Captain Heilovic steps out, flanked by two mean looking Bisharps.

“I tried to be polite,” he says with a disappointed look on his face. “All I wanted was a look inside your ship. I might have even let you go, but you had to be so rude.”

Shane suddenly vanishes, the space suit dropping to the floor, as the others reach for their Pokeballs. The two Bisharps move forward, assuming a defensive position around the captain, their armor gleaming like iron.

“Anubis go! Use Bone Rush!” Alex shouts as she sends out her Lucario. The Pokemon charges forward as he creates a bone from his aura energy and brandishes it as he aims for one of the Bisharps. Unfortunately, the Bisharp proves to be a nimble foe and dodges out of the way. The floor tiles shatter as the bone slams into the ground.

“Wilhelm, Confuse Ray,” Dmitri instructs his Haunter as he releases him from its ball. The ghostly Pokemon’s eyes start flashing, causing the other Bisharp to enter a state of confusion. Dmitri then does the same and inflicts the same ailment upon the first Bisharp

Shane reappears behind Heilovic and slams him with his ghostly attack, leaving the Captain winded and wondering what happened. He then jumps away and sends out his Klefki.

“Personal warp suit?” Heilovic mutters to himself.

The two Bisharps step forward, snapping out of their confusion. The one on the right charges forward and slashes at Wilhelm, dealing a massive blow to the Haunter, leaving him visibly weakened. The other one starts focusing, preparing for a powerful attack. It throws a powerful punch at Anubis, knocking him back with massive force. The Lucario coughs up blood as he hits the ground.

“ _Oh no_!” Alex shouts in distress. “Hang in there Anubis...” Alex recalls her wounded Pokemon, with a worried expression that soon changes to one of anger. “Your turn Diablo! Use Ember!” Her Houndoom springs from his ball and spits a jet of fire at the Bisharp. The Pokemon’s armor is singed a bit, but it doesn’t seem too bothered by it.

“K.E.Y.S., use Metal Sound!” Shane orders his Klefki, pointing at the same Bisharp. The Klefki sends a burst of metallic sound at the Bisharp and it appears to be weakened.

“Go #5! Use your Flame Burst!” H shouts as he fires a Pokeball from his cannon at the Bisharp. His Numel pops out mid-fight, upside down. He shoots a blast of fire from his spout right before it hits the Bisharp, dealing a chunk of damage. The force from the blast slows the Pokemon’s descent and allows him to flip himself over and land on his feet.

The Bisharp swipes at K.E.Y.S., its metal claws shimmering in the light, and delivers a hefty blow. The other Bisharp moves up and slashes at Wilhelm again, taking the Haunter out of the fight. 

“Diablo, use Ember again!” Alex shouts. Her Houndoom spits another blast of fire but this time the Bisharp dodges out of the way.

“Go Obsidius!” Dmitri shouts out, releasing his Slugma. “Flame Burst!” The magma slug spits a blast of fire at the other Bisharp and doesn’t do much more than singe its armor.

“This should break through their defenses!” H shouts as he fires a magma grenade from his Pokeball cannon, taking a big bite out of the Bisharp they’ve all be ganging up on.

“K.E.Y.S. come back. You’re up R.A.G.E.!” Shane shouts as he switches out his Klefki for his Clefable.

“Diablo, you too,” says Alex, recalling her own Pokemon. “Okuma it’s your turn!” She releases her Joltik further back from the Bisharp, out of range of its attacks.

Both Bisharps begin focusing, preparing to unleash another powerful round of attacks.

“Okuma use Thunder Wave! Paralyze that thing,” Alex commands her Pokemon. The Joltik blasts it with a bolt of electricity at the Bisharp. Sparks fly along its body and it seems to be slowed down quite a bit.

“Obsidius, Yawn,” Dmitri instructs his Pokemon. The Slugma yawns and the weakened Bisharp appears to be getting a bit drowsy.

“Now, R.A.G.E.! Use Dazzling Gleam!” Shane commands his Clefable. It bounds across the field to get in rage and unleashes a flash of brilliant light, striking the Bisharp and disrupting its focus. If that wasn't enough, it falls asleep due to the Slugma’s influence. The other Bisharp however, was uninterrupted and slams Obsidius with its supercharged punch, knocking the Slugma out of the fight.

“Ness, you’re up!” Dmitri shouts as he recalls his fallen Slugma and sends out his Gyarados.

“Alright, my turn,” Shane says to himself. He starts glitching out and appears to shimmer like metal for a moment as he throws himself at the other Bisharp, slamming it with all his weight. However, doesn’t seem to do much to the Pokemon. The Bisharp ignores Shane and charges at Ness, slashing at the giant Gyarados. However, it misses and goes flying past.

“R.A.G.E., use Wake-Up Slap!” Shane commands his Pokemon. The Clefable moves up to the sleeping Bisharp and slaps it back and forth as hard as it can. However, the Bisharp’s armor is so strong that it doesn’t even wake it up.

“Damn it! This isn’t working!” Shane yells to his allies. “Our Pokemon are going to die if we keep this up,” He then reaches for his commlink with the _Helix_. “Morgan how’s that warp gate hack coming? We’re in trouble here.”

“It’s all ready to go!” Morgan’s voice replies. “I’m firing it at one of their cruisers now!”

“Right. We’re on the way back!”

Shane, H, Dmitri, and Alex recall their Pokemon and start running away. H throws a string shot grenade at their attackers to keep them from following. H grabs the space suit off the floor as the run back toward their ship.

“Good job unsticking us guys!” Minerva greets them as they return to the bridge.

“Shoot at it or something!” Alex yells. H takes the gun controls and fires the plasma beam at the tractor beam.

The blast loosens the grip of the beam, allowing Minerva an opportunity to escape. She undocks from the destroyer and starts flying over it. The beam stays locked onto the ship but it’s behaving more like a loose rope tied to the ship. Minerva banks the _Helix_ around the other side of the destroyer, breaking the beam’s grip by forcing it to travel through the giant ship.

As the _Helix_ flies inverted past the _Envy_ 's bridge, the crew sees Heilovic standing there with a cold look on his face. Dmitri uses his telepathic abilities to probe his mind and senses that the captain is planning his next move, as if they have caught his attention.

Shane and Alex flip the captain off as Minerva fires the engines to maximum and flies the _Helix_ right at the warp gate. She powers up the warp drive and the gate slingshots the ship into warp space.

* * *

On the bridge of the _RSS Envy_ , Captain Heilovic stands looking out the view port at the damaged Broadsword class heavy cruiser. The hull still gives off an irradiated glow as the last survivors are evacuated.

 _What power!_ he thinks. _If it could be harnessed for the Supremacy..._

“Was it successfully planted?” Heilovic asks the attending officer.

“Yes, sir.”

“Excellent.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well that was a fight. First time we’ve had to run away. Two level 100 Bisharps with stupidly high defenses. I still think that they were way to overleveled to be thrown at us at this point in the campaign. We were lucky to have anything much past level 30.
> 
> Going back through the recording of the session I noticed a lot of flubs in the later hours of this motherload of a session. Especially in this fight. I won’t go into details, but let’s just say we all could have stood to pay a little bit more attention during combat encounters.
> 
> So shit went down. There’s a new faction in town: The Romanov Supremacy! If you’ve had a bit of trouble following along, basically after the huge battle at the end of Volume 1, a rogue faction of the Romanov Union seemed to be responsible and there was foreshadowing of the Romanov radicalists in the previous chapters. Apparently the news doesn’t realize or just isn’t reporting the fact that these radicalists seem to be a fully unified faction. The good news for readers was expansion on the subject in some of the side-series we worked on later on in the campaign that took place earlier in the story. Those definitely helped paint a clearer picture. At the end of the session, I had a feeling we’d be seeing Heilovic again, as if that little scene at the end wasn’t obvious enough. I also had a feeling there would be a lot of interesting RP at the start of the following session.


	36. Volume 2, Chapter 9: Respite and Resupply

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Helix crew gets a new mission when they run into the Red Suns after escaping from Heilovic.

“Let’s try not to do that again,” Shane says to the crew, still gathered on the bridge.

“Yeah,” Minerva responds, still visibly shaken up by the encounter with the Romanov Supremacy. “I’m a pilot. Ship vs ship, that’s fine, but I can’t outfly people who are _inside_ the ship.”

“But no one actually made it inside the ship,” Dmitri points out.

“But they could have,” Minerva replies. “So how about no on-board combat on this ship _ever_?”

“That sounds like a good idea,” Alex agrees.

“When I am on board, there will be no problem with on-board combat,” H announces. “Unless there is.”

“That sounds _really_ reassuring,” Minerva tells him sarcastically.  “ _Thanks_.”

“So, why don’t we, like… stop going to places where people are trying to kill us?” Alex asks.

“That sounds like a great idea,” Shane agrees. “Let’s go with that plan.”

“But that means we will have to stop going to places with people,” H responds. “Because there will always be people trying to kill us.”

“Who the hell are you people that there’s always someone trying to kill you?” Alex asks.

“Let me reiterate,” Shane tells her. “There’s a lot you two don’t know about us.”

“Well… then maybe you should start sharing,” Alex replies.

“Yeah, you know, usually I’ll just take the credits and ‘your business is your business,’” Minerva agrees. “But I’ve seen you do some pretty weird shit, to say the least.”

“Well as you can see,” H starts explaining. “I am attempting to become the most perfect being in the universe and bring Humanity to a new age of enlightenment, and as such I have to attempt many new things, I find new technologies and experience new things to bring myself to perfection, and, as such, people are opposed to that perfection, people who wish to go against my amazing spiritual enlightenment through the power of Wailords and I believe that through this power I shall grow to gain control over the universe and that is why people oppose me, for they are afraid of what I might become.”

“H, you do realize that no one actually believes you right?” Shane asks him.

“But that is exactly why I can do it! One does not actually need to be believed to be accomplished.”

“ _Riiiight_.” 

“Uh… does anybody besides Inspector Gizmo here have an answer that actually makes sense?” Alex asks, giving H a strange look.

“Okay, let me try to begin in a more understandable fashion,” Shane tells her. “Have you heard of the Red Suns?” Shane asks.

“I can’t say that I have,” Minerva replies.

“The who?” Alex asks.

“They’re a group of mercenaries,” Shane informs them.

“Well, with a name like the Red Suns, that’s not surprising,” Minerva jokes.

“We helped one of their top leaders clear his name and rejoin the group,” Shane continues. “His name is Arlon Jett and he’s kind of a badass… But enough about him.”

“The Red Suns aren’t that important,” H interrupts. “What is important is that we met a weird, strange man-mime-Pokemon-thing who goes by Mr. Silver for whatever reason, but he has a lot of information which proved useful to us.”

“He basically has his hand in everything,” Shane elaborates, attempting to regain control of the conversation. “And even he’s not that important in the grand scheme of things. The Romanov Supremacy, which is the group we just encountered-”

“Yeah, I noticed,” Minerva interrupts. “Captain Friendly was very keen to let us know whose side he’s on.”

“We have a lot of evidence to suggest that they are, or at least were, attempting to create an army of Genesect,” Shane continues.

“ _Great_. What’s a Genesect?”

“This,” Shane tells her, showing the two new members of the crew a chunk of the Genesect data on his Pokedex.

“They’re making an army of murder machines?” Alex asks.

“Yes. That’s what we tried to stop them from doing before you two came on board. So… basically, we’re the good guys.”

“Never heard _that_ one before,” Minerva tells him.

“My offer still stands,” Shane continues. “If at any point you don’t want to continue piloting for us, you don’t have to.”

“Well, it seems like the money’s still good,” Minerva replies. “And, as long as we don’t have another boarding incident, I think I’ll stick around. You’re certainly the most _interesting_ clients I’ve had the pleasure of ferrying around the Galaxy.”

“Trust me, as long as we’re on board you have no reason to fear any actual hand-to-hand combat,” Shane reassures her.

“Good.”

* * *

The _Helix_ drops out of warp space into Sector 19 in the Outer Rim, a boring stretch of space with a few systems containing uninhabited planets and Romanov military installations. The ship's proximity sensors go off almost immediately upon exiting the gate; a sole ship is detected moving toward the _Helix_.

Minerva, still on edge after the encounter with Heilovic, calls the crew up to the bridge. “Guys, I’m picking up a ship here. Might be trouble.”

Shane, Dmitri, and H head up to the bridge to investigate, and recognize the familiar signature of the _UAS Corsair_ , the Alliance-make heavy frigate owned by the Red Suns.

“Looks like Outer Rim mercenaries or pirates,” Minerva informs them. “How do you wanna handle this boss?”

“Yeah, this would be the Red Suns,” Shane tells her calmly

“Oh, those Red Suns?” Minerva asks.

“Yeah.”

“That’s quite a coincidence. Well, it seems like they do know you since they’re hailing us and their weapons are _not_ charged. Huh.”

Shane accepts the call and the familiar face of Arlon Jett appears on the viewscreen. “Well, if it isn’t the _UAS Helix_ ,” he says to them. “Fancy meeting you here. What brings you lot all the way out here?”

“We kind of had a run in with the Romanov Supremacy,” Shane tells him.

“Not a very nice bunch, are they?” Arlon replies. “I hate those bastards. They make getting around in Romanov space a bloody nightmare.”

“Hey, so Minerva, remember that guy we talked about?” H suddenly chimes in. “This is him.”

“Mr. Badass?” Minerva asks.

“Oh, so I’m known as Mr. Badass now?”

“Well, that’s kind of how I explained it,” Shane tells him.

“Well, I’m flattered, mate,” Arlon says with a laugh. He then turns his attention to Minerva. “So, you’re the new pilot then, luv? I take it you’ve had quite an _interesting_ time with this lot then.”

“Interesting is _one_ word you could use, yes.”

“Oh, I like her already,” Arlon says. “But enough small talk. Since you’re here, I could use your help with something.”

“Oh?” Shane asks.

“Remember that Alliance scientist I mentioned to you? Dr. Armstrong?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, as you know, Mr. Silver hired the Red Suns, as well as several of his other agents to capture him and, if that proves impossible, to kill him. My initial plan was to covertly capture him to keep him so that I could learn what he knows and to keep him out of Mr. Silver’s hands.” He folds his arms, the expression on his face turning quite serious. “Unfortunately, I’ve run into a bit of a problem. Armstrong has proven to be a hard man to track down… until now. He’s scheduled to speak at Belaviure University on Parisia at the end of the week. This would be the perfect opportunity to grab him, but we’re not the only ones after him. If the Red Suns were seen taking him, it would put us all in danger of being discovered since I have no intention of turning him over to Mr. Silver.” He pauses for a moment, looking at something off screen. “So, you can see why this is a problem.”

“Yeah,” Shane responds. “So, I take it you want us to capture him?”

“Exactly. My hands are tied here, but Mr. Silver isn’t watching you as closely. If you capture Armstrong, Silver will likely suspect that you have your own reasons for doing so.”

“Wait… What’s this presentation going to be on?” H suddenly asks.

“Well, I assume it’ll be on theoretical biology,” Arlon tells him. “You know, the field he specializes in.”

“...That doctor? Wait… We’ve been searching for _that_ Dr. Armstrong and no one has bothered to tell me that we are going after _him?!_ ”

“I gave you this information weeks ago, mate,” Arlon tells him. “How in the bloody hell could you not know?”

“Yes. But I figured you were giving me useless information as you normally do because people give useless information,” H replies.

“You know this guy?” Shane asks.

“Yes,” H tells him. “This is the guy who made me who I am, essentially. A good friend of mine from back at the lab before it… well, kind of… vanished. I know he played some role of importance in me becoming who I am.” His expression turns to one of confusion as he continues. “I thought he went missing with the lab… It should have all been destroyed… Armstrong was probably the best man I knew… since my childhood… he was like a father to me… How in the world…? He should… he was _gone_ … How can Armstrong even exist? He should be dead as with everyone in the lab who vanished all those years ago.”

“You survived somehow,” Dmitri points out.

“Well, yes, because I’m the chosen one. But Armstrong… he should not be alive.”

“Well, he is very much alive, mate,” Arlon tells him.

“Well, you should have told me sooner!”

“I-” Arlon starts but he finds himself at a loss for words. He just shakes his head in bewilderment.

“He’s always like this isn’t he?” Minerva asks.

“Yeah…” Shane says with a sigh. “Anyway, Arlon, we will definitely take care of Armstrong, but in return, do you know anything about the Mirrored Temples?”

“Sorry mate, can’t say that I do,” Arlon tells him. “But if I find anything out I’ll be sure to send it your way.”

“Thanks. That would be really helpful.”

“No problem. Good luck with Armstrong. Take care of yourselves.”

“You too.”

“Cheers.” Arlon ends the calls and the crew of the _Helix_ watch as the _Corsair_ flies off into space.

Shane turns to the rest of the crew gathered on the bridge and makes a decision. “Arlon seems to be really focused on finding this guy. I think the Mirrored Temple can wait.”

“Well if it’s been sitting there for ninety-two-million years, I’m sure it can sit there just a little bit longer,” Minerva agrees. She turns the ship back toward the gate and sets a course for the core Genevan sector.

* * *

Realizing he has not seen Morgan for several hours, Shane becomes worried and looks around the ship for her. Not finding her around any of her usual spots, Shane checks her room. He knocks and hears no response. He does notice the door is unlocked, so he opens it and sees Morgan lying on her bed facing the wall, her back to the door.

“Morgan are you okay?” Shane asks her.

No response. She appears to be attempting to pretend that she is sleeping, but it is quite obvious to Shane that she is wide awake.

“Morgan, I know you’re awake.”

Silence.

“You don’t have to be afraid of… whatever it is that you’re afraid of,” Shane reassures her.

“But…” Morgan says, still staring at the wall. “What if I’m afraid of… me? I killed all those people… And the ones who didn’t die… They’re ruined...”

“They were trying to do the same to us,” Shane tells her. “It was self-defense.”

“Not _them_. Only the captain. But I couldn’t… because _you_ were on that ship.”

“I was trying to get H off of that ship.”

“Why does something like that gate hack even exist? How could I do something like that? It felt _good_ … when I watched the ship burn.”

“I guess power kinda gets to your head after a while… But, seriously, are you okay?”

“I’ll be okay… Please… just tell everyone I was asleep.”

“Alright,” Shane agrees, empathizing with the pain this memory must give Morgan. “I did want to let you know since you weren’t on the bridge, but we crossed paths with Arlon.”

“I see… What did he say?”

“He found out more information on Armstrong. He wants us to prevent him from being captured or killed by Mr. Silver’s men.”

“I’m guessing this is urgent then.”

“Yeah… We’re actually headed into Genevan space right now to try and find him."

“Genevan space…? Where?”

“Parisia. Armstrong is giving a talk there on Friday.”

“I _can’t_ go there.”

“You… don’t have to… You can stay on the ship if you want.”

“As long as I can stay here, that’s fine. I can’t help you.”

“Okay.”

Sensing Morgan needs some more alone time, Shane exits the room. As he makes his way back to his own room, Shane notices Alex stumbling around in the corridor, seemingly a bit tipsy from the sheer amount of time that the ship has been in warp space recently.

“Hey… are you okay? Is the Warp a bit too much? It’s always rough for first timers.”

“Huh?” Alex asks, seeming a bit delirious.

“I think you should go sit down. You’re looking a bit… wobbly.”

“I’m not wobbly… _You’re_ wobbly,” Alex responds.

“Here,” says Shane, grabbing her to keep her from falling over. “Why don’t we go sit down somewhere?”

“Okay…” says Alex. “I’m gonna stop standing up now.” Her knees give out and she slumps into a sitting position on the floor.

“Close enough,” Shane tells her. He props her up against the wall. “Just… stay here until we get out of warp space.”

* * *

The _Helix_ drops out of warp space in the Europa System, the heart of the Geneva Confederacy. Unlike the other nations, the Confederacy built the warp gate for their primary sector right in their capital system. The Europa system is quite the unique star system, boasting a plethora of habitable worlds. The passengers of the European life ship that left Earth had tried their best to preserve their cultural identities and, as such, this system had proved perfect for their needs. The member states of the Confederacy were each provided with a world of their own.

“So, we’ve arrived in the Europa System,” Minerva announces over the comms. “Where to now?”

The crew gathers on the bridge to figure out what to do next.

“We still have three days until Armstrong’s talk, so we probably don’t need to go to Parisia just yet,” says Shane.

“Since we’re here, we may as well pick up some supplies,” Dmitri suggests. “We need some more Pokeballs, and if we’re going to be in any more combat situations we should get some armor or something.”

“And I want to pick up a small warp drive to mess around with, like Gilgamesh suggested,” Shane adds. “Morgan, you know this place the best of any of us. Where do you suggest we go to find this stuff?”

“It’s all hardware and technology related, so the best place to look would be München,” Morgan informs them. “They produce top of the line Pokeball and space technology there. It orbits the same planet as Parisia so it makes the most sense.”

“Sounds good,” says Shane. “Minerva-”

“Already setting a course,” the pilot interrupts.

After a brief flight across the system, the _Helix_ arrives at Gaia, the gas giant home to a large portion of the population of the Europa System. The planet’s many habitable moons serve as the capital worlds for a large majority of the Genevan states. 

“Wow,” Alex gasps as she stares out the viewport at Gaia. The giant’s brilliant orange rings standing out against the swirls of blue and white gases. “It’s so beautiful.”

Minerva brings the ship down to München and docks in the moon’s major spaceport and economic hub. The crew then heads out into the city to browse the storefronts for supplies.

“Have fun on your little shopping trip,” Minerva says over the comms as they disembark from the _Helix_.

Wandering along the streets, the crew comes across a variety of stores. The buildings are lined with vehicle dealerships, hardware shops, personal equipment stores, and Pokeball boutiques. 

“Oh my God, they have, like, every Pokeball ever! And in custom colors! The craftsmanship is amazing!” Alex darts from one shop window to the next, eyes wide with wonder, marveling at all the wonderful technology. “ _Ahhh!!_ ” she suddenly squeals, causing the others to run over,.“That’s a gold-plated Premier Luxury Ball! It’s so shiny! I need it!”

“It’s just a Luxury Ball,” Morgan tells her. “You can get a regular one for cheaper and it would do the same thing.”

“But it wouldn’t be as classy!” Alex whines.

“It’s really expensive. Do you even have that kind of money?” Morgan asks.

“Right,” Alex sighs. A frown temporarily appears on her face. Her eyes soon light up again when she spots another store window. “Hey, look, Timer Balls!” She runs off once again.

“Hey, slow down!” Morgan shouts after her.

“I can take care of myself!” Alex shouts back. “I’ll meet you back at the ship later!”

Morgan just sighs and follows the others as they continue shopping.

“I’m going to go see if I can find somewhere I can buy some combat armor,” Dmitri tells his crewmates. “I want to be prepared for the next time we encounter the Supremacy.”

“Sounds like a good plan,” Shane tells him. “I’ll go look for a warp drive. Morgan, is there anywhere around here where I can find one?”

“I’ve really only been here a few times,” Morgan tells him. “But it shouldn’t be too hard to find one.”

The two keep walking along and eventually come across a shop specializing in warp drives. Entering the store, they see all kinds of warp drives for varying makes and models of ships. Feeling a bit overwhelmed, Shane decides to ask one of the employees.

“Excuse me, I’m looking for small warp drive.”

“Sure thing,” the man tells him, a hint of a German accent in his  voice. “Vere you looking for anything in particular?”

“What’s the smallest warp drive you have?”

“That vould be this one here,” the man tells him, leading him over to a nearby shelf. “It is designed for small, compact bucket class ships. It is not the most powerful drive, but for its size it certainly gets the job done.”

“This will do nicely,” Shane tells him. “I’ll take it.”

“Alright, that vill run you twelve-thousand credits. And ve can deliver it right to your ship.”

* * *

After spending several hours exploring the streets and geeking out over all the fancy Genevan tech, Alex decides to spend her money on TMs. She had been consistently getting knocked out of battles since she met the  _Helix_  crew. All her Pokemon had been knocked out when they fought Gilgamesh, and Anubis nearly _died_ in the battle against Heilovic. Alex’s Pokemon were with her through all the years she was alone; they are like family to her. She can’t stand the thought of losing a single one. She had come to the realization that she needs to start training harder and teaching her Pokemon better moves; their lives depend on it.

“I need Focus Blast, and Flamethrower, and Thunderbolt, and-”

“Slow down kid,” the shopkeeper tells her. “You need gym badges before we can sell you high level moves like that.”

“I have a gym badge!” Alex declares, showing off the Warp Badge she received from Gilgamesh.

“The Warp Badge, huh?” the shopkeeper asks, stroking his goatee. “Don’t see too many of those. But you’ll need more than one if you want something like Focus Blast.” He then points to a selection of TMs. “These are the ones you can get with one.”

“Okay… Um… I’ll take that one, and that one,” Alex decides, selecting a few TMs that she thinks will be useful.

“Sure thing kid.”

Satisfied with her purchases, Alex makes her way back to the _Helix_ , finding most of the others have already returned. They appear to be discussing what to do next.

“Is there anything else we need to do while we’re here?” Shane asks, “Or should we just head for Parisia now?”

“I would like to Wonder Trade before we leave,” says Dmitri.

“I as well,” H agrees.

“Sounds like a good idea,” says Shane.

Alex follows the crew as they disembark once more, this time headed for München’s Wonder Trade center. “Where are we going?” the girl asks.

“To the Wonder Trade center,” Dmitri tells her.

“Wonder Trade? What’s that?”

“It’s where you trade away one of your Pokemon and get a random one in return,” Morgan explains.

“Why would anyone want to do that?” Alex asks. “I can’t even _imagine_ trading any of my Pokemon… Especially for something random! They’re the only family I have…”

“Well, not everyone is as attached to the Pokemon they catch,” Morgan tells her.

“But why would you catch something you don’t want?”

“So I can trade for something I do want,” says Dmitri.

“That just seems cruel…”

They arrive at the Wonder Trade center which has a few people milling about, making trades. Dmitri walks up to one of the machines and places the Pokeball containing the Qwilfish he received from Wonder Trading on Delphyne inside. It is warped away by the machine, and a new Pokeball appears in its place. Dmitri picks it up and releases it. A Noibat pops out and starts flapping around the room.

“Hmm. I think I will keep this,” he says. “See. I now have something I want.”

“But what about the other Pokemon?” Alex asks.

“I’m sure it’ll find a nice home,” Shane reassures her.

Morgan goes next and trades in the Tynamo she caught on Messina and receives a Bellsprout, which she also decides to keep, figuring it will be a good support Pokemon for her team. H goes next and trades away his Chinchou, also from Messina, and ends up with a Buizel, which he promptly names #9. Shane goes last and trades the Tynamo he also caught on Messina and receives an Amaura.

“Oh my God, it’s so cute!” Alex exclaims. “I want one!”

“Well, I plan on keeping this one,” Shane tells her. “You’re welcome to try trading for one here.”

“No way! I’ll just have to catch my own!”

“Good luck with that.”

Satisfied with their Wonder Trade results, the crew returns to the Helix and prepares to leave the moon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well this certainly was a long chapter for a session that started off with a whole lot of nothing. We barely went over our usual length and we got like almost nothing done and went on ton of tangents yet somehow the write-up proved to be one of the longest yet. Some really big things happened toward the end but we’ll get to that in the next couple of chapters. What happened with this chapter is that I got carried away with this notion that I had to go into detail about every little thing we did, and the result was this. Some readers thought it was really dry, while others really liked it. Feel free to let me know what you think of it.
> 
> Arlon Jett makes his first Volume 2 appearance! This was the first time he appeared in-game with his Britishness. With him no longer my PC, started attempting the accent for his few appearances, and I really made it stand out in the chapters themselves. His purpose here was to present the party with a tough choice. Do we go to the Mirrored Temple, which is the thing both the players and their characters want to do first, or this time-sensitive thing which is super important. Ultimately we decided to go after Armstrong.
> 
> Meanwhile on the UAS Socially Awkward… (No seriously, most of our characters don’t know how to fit in normal Human society), Shmorgan is a ship apparently. Too bad they were both too awkward to realize it just yet, no matter how bad their players want it to happen. Looking back, this seemed to come out of nowhere, but both players wanted to ship their characters so it started happening a lot of the players and readers did enjoy it though.


	37. Seeing Red, Part 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Red Suns find help from an unlikely source during a heist mission.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As with the last part of Seeing Red, this piece was written during Volume 3, but it falls in the timeline concurrently with the early part of Volume 2, so that is where it has been inserted in the series. It's specific position in the timeline is concurrent to the events on Messina.

Arlon stepped off the crowded mag-train into the pleasant night air of Harmonia. Unlike the slums he had been in on his last visit to this planet, this part of the megatropolis world benefited from high quality air filtration to keep the skies clear of smog for its richer inhabitants. _This shit wouldn’t happen back in the Confederacy_ , the Genevan mercenary thought as he walked along the walkway bustling with nightlife. Unlike the Alliance, the Geneva Confederacy provided clean air for _all_ its citizens.

After several minutes, Arlon arrived at a bar with a large neon sign out front. “This must be the place,” he said as he entered. The Red Suns leader walked down a flight of stairs into the main room, then surveyed the crowd. Several people were seated at the bar, but most of them were scattered around at the various tables, enjoying the music of the jazz-punk band playing that night. This wasn’t Arlon’s kind of place, but this was where his potential new pilot wanted to meet.

Eventually, Arlon spotted a young man with a short red mohawk sitting alone at a table in the corner, sipping a beer. _That must be him_ , Arlon reasoned. He sat himself down in the seat across from the man and locked eyes with him. “You Matt Suzuki?”

“The one and only,” the young Alliance man responded. “I take it you’re Arlon Jett? I hear you need a pilot.”

“Indeed, mate.”

“Well, look no further. I’m your guy.” Arlon detected a hint of arrogance in his voice.

“Not so fast, mate,” Arlon told him. “Why should I hire you?”

“I think my record speaks for itself, pal.” Matt paused to sip his beer before continuing. “Top of my class at the Federation Naval Academy, and I’ve worked with mercs all over the Galaxy.”

“If you were the top of your class, what the bloody hell are you doing here?”

“What, you think I want to spend my time flying a bunch of military stiffs around? Fuck that shit, man. Why be a Federation pilot when I can make four times as much working freelance? The merc life is just so exciting.”

“I’ll give you that, mate, but with skills like that, people should be lining up to hire you.”

“Yeah, well, my last employer didn’t seem too keen on keeping me around. What did he say again? Oh, right, ‘fucking asshole,’ I believe, were the words he used.”

“So, what you’re saying is that you’re difficult to work with?”

“I guess you could say that,” Matt answered, a slight smirk on his face. “Look, man, I get paid to fly ships, not to be anybody’s friend. If you’ve got a problem with that, go find someone else. If not, when do I start?”

“Right away, mate. I can tell you’re at least as good a pilot as I am, if not better. That’s all I need. You can be the biggest fucking prick in the Galaxy, as long as you get the job done.”

“I can tell that we’re going to get along,” Matt said. He extended his hand and was met with a firm handshake from Arlon.

“Welcome to the Red Suns, mate.”

* * *

“So, you may be wondering why I’ve called you here today.” Arlon glanced around the _Corsair_ ’s war room at his small, handpicked team for the Red Suns’ upcoming operation on Harmonia.

“Well, clearly not to stand around looking pretty,” Matthias Antoniou, the Red Suns’ computer specialist, commented.

“Speak for yourself, pal,” Carmen Martinez shot back. The Alliance woman gave the hacker an irritated glance as she spoke.

Arlon knew that Carmen’s fiery temper wouldn’t mesh well with Matthias’s laid back, joking attitude, but the pair, who were some of the Red Suns’ leader’s more recent acquisitions, both had skills that made them the best choices for this operation.

“I meant no offense, my dear,” Matthias replied, attempting to sound charming, but finding little success.

“Whatever.”

“Alright, enough chatter,” Arlon told them. “We’ve got business to discuss.” The Red Suns’ leader stepped forward and pressed a button on the holotable. The image of a large skyscraper appeared. “ASI Consolidated,” Arlon continued. “The Alliance’s largest corporation that no one knows what it actually does. They get rich by taking other people’s money and… _doing shit_ with it. If there’s money to be made, you can count on them trying to get a piece of the bloody action.”

“Let me guess, we’re going to steal some of that money, aren’t we?” Matthias asked.

“Of course, mate,” Arlon answered. “All those credits are going into the pockets of rich assholes who are worth more than the entire Sinai Ascendancy, so why not snag a bit of it for ourselves? And that’s not even considering the shady business practices and exploitation. Since Jonathan Pierce took over as CEO a year or so ago, that shit’s only gotten worse. I think we’re perfectly justified in ripping these bastards off.”

“I like the way you think, boss,” Carmen chimed in. “I hated putting up with this crap growing up, so it will be so satisfying to stick it to these guys. What’s our play?”

“The plan is relatively straightforward,” the Red Suns’ leader explained. “Their headquarters is here on Harmonia. All we need to do is sneak in and access the mainframe in the building’s basement.” Arlon pointed to the building displayed on the holotable and the image focused in on the subterranean levels. “My sources indicate that all their credit investments flow through there. The hard part is getting inside.”

“When is it ever _not_ the hardest part?” Carmen asked.

“Good point, but we’re not going to worry about that just yet,” Arlon continued. “Matthias, I’ll need you to whip up something to divert credits back to us. The more undetectable, the better.”

“Not problem,” the Athínian hacker responded. “You get me inside and those credits are as good as ours, and they will be none the wiser. I just need a bit of time to prepare some software.”

“Excellent,” Arlon told him. He then turned his attention to Carmen. “While he handles that, the two of us will scope the place out. You cover the outside of the building, look for any potential entry points other than the front door. I’ll check inside and see what the security’s like.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Carmen agreed.

“Alright, let’s get to work then.”

* * *

Arlon looked around the walkway as he and Carmen approached ASI Consolidated’s headquarters in Harmonia’s financial district, keeping an eye out for any potential threats to the mission. If all went well, they would be in and out without being noticed, so any security out here wouldn’t be an issue.

“Alright, let’s split up,” the Red Suns’ leader said once they were near the front entrance. “Check the outside as well as you can, while I head inside to have a look. We’ll meet back here in fifteen minutes.”

“Got it,” Carmen acknowledged. The Alliance woman nodded and headed off.

Arlon glanced at her as he made his way toward the entrance. Normally, he would have picked Petra for a job like this, but she was currently on a special assignment in Romanov space with Kiril. Carmen had proven herself to be quite capable since Arlon had recruited her, and she had the right set of skills to make her the obvious choice to fill in for Petra on a job like this.

Stepping inside the building, the first thing Arlon looked for was security, and there was plenty of it. There was quite a bit of open space in the lobby, but the security desk was positioned to have a good vantage point of the entire room. He also noted at least six different cameras in the lobby alone. An automated Pokedex ID check system on the far side blocked the way to the lifts, and Arlon was pretty sure an additional one was needed to access certain floors.

 _The Alliance sure does love their bloody security_ , Arlon thought as he gave the lobby a second glance. _Getting in is gonna be tougher than I thought_. He took a seat on the comfy couch in the corner of the lobby, and continued to monitor the lobby in case he missed something. Once the fifteen minutes were up, he headed for the door.

Outside, Arlon spotted Carmen leaning against the side of the building. He nodded his head and motioned for her to follow him away from the building, “Any luck?” Arlon asked as they walked.

“Nope,” she replied. “We’re gonna need to go through the front door.”

“That’s what I thought,” Arlon told her. “But even that’s going to be tricky. The security’s tight as hell in there. We’re going to need to nab some Pokedexs or have Matthias whip something up.”

“I can help with that,” a voice spoke up from behind.

Arlon turned to see a green-haired teenaged girl standing just behind them. The Red Sun’s leader instinctively grabbed her arm. After all, she _had_ been eavesdropping.

“Hey, let go!” the girl shouted in protest.

“How long have you been listening?” Arlon demanded.

“Long enough to know you need my help.”

“And what the bloody hell makes you think that we need help from some kid?” Arlon asked, tightening his grip slightly. “Now what am I gonna do with you? You’ve become a security risk just by talking to us.”

“Just let go, man!” the girl shouted as she attempted to tug her arm away. “I can have you thrown off this planet!”

“I find that hard to believe,” Arlon told her. “Just who do you think you are, anyway?”

“My name is Naomi Pierce,” the girl replied, shoving her Pokedex in Arlon’s face with her free hand. “My dad runs this freaking company! So just _let go_ and _listen_ to me!”

“So, you’re the CEO’s kid,” Arlon observed. “Well, alright then, little lady.” He released the girl from his grasp and she immediately yanked her hand away. Arlon had to admit, she was quite tenacious. “I’m listening.”

* * *

“So, let me get this straight,” Arlon said after listening to Naomi’s proposition. “Your father is the CEO, and you actually _want_ to help us steal from him?”

“Like I told you, I _hate_ him,” the girl replied indignantly. “I hate _everything_ he stands for.”

“No offense, kid, but I have a hard time believing a spoiled, rich brat like you wants to sabotage her source of money,” Carmen retorted. Having come from poor Alliance family, she despised people like this girl.

“Hey, just because I come from a rich family it doesn’t mean that I don’t have morals!” Naomi protested.

“Yeah, right.”

“Now, now, Carmen,” Arlon warned her. He then turned back to the teenager offering to help with the mission. “My friend here does have some valid concerns, though. What reason could you possibly have for helping us?”

“We lived on a Sinai planet for a while,” the girl explained. “My dad was there doing business. Living there opened my eyes to the horrible things his company does, the way they exploit people, the way _he_ exploits people. When we came back here, I realized that everyone I know is a terrible person.”

Arlon was typically cautious about taking outside help, but he had a feeling that this girl was being sincere. “Alright, I think we can trust you,” the Red Suns’ leader told her. “However, I am curious about what you get out of all this.”

“Well, I guess since you’re willing to trust me, I can trust you,” the girl replied. “There’s something I want from you in return.”

“Of course she has an ulterior motive,” Carmen chided. Arlon shot her a stern look in response.

“Alright, what do you want?” Arlon asked the girl.

“I want you to copy some files for me,” she answered. “Shady business deals, off-the-books investments, anything that can help me expose this company. I want to bring them down.”

“That’s a lofty goal, kid,” Arlon told her. “We’ll get the files for you, but, even then, you’re going to have a tough time.”

“I know my way around the Spacenet; I’ll think of something.”

“I’m sure you will…” Arlon extended his hand, and gave the girl a firm handshake. “Alright, Naomi, you’ve got yourself a deal.”

* * *

“Listen up,” Arlon said to the team gathered in the _Corsair_ ’s war room. “I want to make sure we’re all on the same page.”

“Yes, yes, I would very much like to know what this girl is doing here,” Matthias replied, glancing over at Naomi.

“She’s our ticket in,” Arlon explained. “Naomi here just happens to be the daughter of ASI’s CEO.”

“Oh, really now?” The Athínian hacker’s interest had been piqued.

“Indeed, mate,” Arlon confirmed. “She’s going to snag her father’s Pokedex for us. It will get us past the ID check and let us take the lift down to the mainframe. In return, we’re going to grab some files for her.”

“That shouldn’t be too hard,” Matthias determined. “It’s much simpler than continuously, and undetectably, skimming credits.”

“That’s what I like to hear,” the Red Suns’ leader responded. “Now, once we’re inside, we’ll make our way to the mainframe. Carmen and I will take care of any guards. Matthias, you will need to disable to cameras. Once we get to the mainframe, Carmen will guard the door while I keep Matthias covered as he hacks in. Once we get what we need, we get out as fast as possible.”

“Sounds like a walk in the park,” Matthias commented.

“If all goes well, mate, it should be. Now, let’s get moving.”

* * *

“So, why do you want to bring your dad’s company down so bad?” Carmen asked. She sat in the back of the Red Suns’ skycar with Naomi as Arlon flew it across Harmonia, back to ASI’s headquarters.

“Because the things they do are _illegal_ , and no one else is gonna do anything about it,” the girl responded.

“And why would someone like you care?” Carmen asked. No rich girl she ever knew would even give a damn about something like this.

“What’s that supposed to mean? No… I get it, you think I’m just some spoiled brat. But I really care about this, you know. Back in Sinai, I met this girl who turned out to be the only _real_ friend I ever had. She wasn’t like me… she was an orphan who grew up on the streets, but she had the biggest heart…”

Naomi trailed off. She reached up and clenched a necklace hanging around her neck in her hand. Carmen noted that it appeared to be some sort of Sinai religious icon.

“What’s with the necklace?” Carmen asked the girl. “You don’t strike me as the religious type.”

“ _She_ gave it to me,” Naomi explained. “She’s the reason I’m here now. Remember how I said my eyes were opened? Well, it’s because of _her_. She was the most amazing person I’ve ever met, but it was people like her that my father was there to take advantage of… That’s why I _have_ to do this.”

“If she means so much to you, then where is she now?” Carmen asked. “What happened to her?”

Naomi’s expression became quite somber. “I made the mistake of leaving her behind… She was head-over-heels for me, but I tried to pretend I didn’t feel the same way about her because I thought I loved somebody else.”

“Ouch, that’s rough,” Carmen commented. She could tell she struck a nerve with the teenager.

“You have no idea,” Naomi responded. “When I told her, it devastated her. It drove her mad and she scared me away… I haven’t seen her since. Breaking her heart like that was the biggest mistake I ever made… If I could just go back...”

“I take it things with the other person didn’t go well?”

“She wasn’t the person I thought she was… Like I said before, when I returned home from Sinai I realized that _everyone_ I knew was a terrible person. All the people I thought were my friends turned out to be… fake, spoiled, and manipulative. And I pushed the only _real_ person in my life away...”

Naomi fell silent and turned toward the window. Carmen spotted a lone tear drip from the girl’s eye. She hated to admit it, but Carmen actually felt sorry for Naomi. At first she thought this girl was some spoiled brat, but now the Alliance mercenary understood why this girl was helping them.

Carmen turned her attention back to the front of the vehicle and listened as Arlon and Matthias discussed the plan. It wasn’t much longer until they arrived at their destination.

“Alright, you all know the plan,” Arlon said once he had parked the vehicle. “Naomi goes in first, and acquires her father’s Pokedex, which she will hand off to us on her way out.” He then turned his head to Naomi. “You ready, kid?” he asked the girl.

“I think so,” she answered. She opened the door and stepped out of the skycar.

“Good luck,” Arlon told her. “See you on the other side.”

“Think she can handle it?” Carmen asked. She knew that Naomi could be trusted at this point, but she still had her doubts.

“I wouldn’t send her in there if I didn’t think she could.”

* * *

Pokedex in hand, Matthias scanned the hallway as he followed Arlon and Carmen through the sublevels of the building. His cybernetic eyes identified the cameras for him, and each one he passed was quickly fed a loop of footage with a few quick button presses. _Alliance security cameras aren’t very secure_ , the Athínian mused.

In fact, this whole building wasn’t as secure as it was cracked up to be. Getting in had been simple enough; once Naomi handed over her father’s Pokedex, Matthias had easily tricked the Dex scanner into thinking the Red Suns’ Pokedexes were all the CEO’s. He didn’t claim to be the best hacker in the Galaxy, but Matthias knew he had _more_ than enough skill to have the run of this place.

Of course, there were the guards to deal with. But that’s why Arlon and Carmen were here. The boss had already choked out the guard outside the elevator without the man even noticing, and Matthias was sure that any others wouldn’t be a problem either.

“Alright, this is it,” Arlon said suddenly. The Red Suns’ leader put his hand up and motioned for the other two to stop. “Matthias-”

“Way ahead of you, boss,” the hacker interrupted as the door slid open. _It’s like they aren’t even trying to keep anyone out_ , he thought.

“Good work, mate. Let’s get moving. Carmen, stand guard.”

“You got it,” the alliance woman responded. Matthias couldn’t stand her; she had _no_ sense of humor. She _was_ useful, at least.

The Athínian hacker followed Arlon into the room and took stock of what he was dealing with. He scanned the rows of servers until his eyes marked a suitable entry point. “There,” he said aloud, pointing the particular machine out to his boss.

“Plug in,” Arlon instructed him as he pulled a Pokeball from his belt. “I’ll take a look around and make sure there are no guards lurking around.” The Red Suns’ leader released his Golbat and stepped further into the room.

“Alright, let’s see what we have here,” Matthias said as he interfaced with the server. Lines of code sprang up on the hacker’s custom HUD he had designed for his eyes. He quickly parsed through it, and identified where he needed to inject his own code. One swift swipe of the hand across his Pokedex later, his credit skimming worm was in place.

“Worm’s in,” Matthias communicated across the Red Suns’ comm channel. “Now for the files.”

The hacker disconnected from the credit server and scanned the room once more until he found the one containing ASI’s business records. Just as before, getting in took mere seconds, but this time, Matthias had to wait for the files to download.

“The room seems secure,” Arlon said over the comms. “How’re things on your end, Carmen?”

“All clear out here,” she quickly responded.

“Excellent. How’re those files coming, Matthias?”

“Eh,” the hacker replied. “They _could_ be downloading faster.”

“Can’t you do anything about that?”

“Not really. It’s not like I can just make these machines run any faster instantaneously. _Aha!_ There, it’s done.”

Matthias once again disconnected and headed back to the door. Arlon was waiting for him when he got there. “That was fast,” the boss commented.

“That’s what you pay me for, isn’t it?” the hacker asked, cracking a sly grin.

With their objective complete, the team began making their way back toward the elevators. As they approached, Matthias monitored the security feeds.

“Hold up,” the hacker warned the others. “There is a guard around the corner.”

Arlon nodded, then looked over at his Golbat. “Desmodus, fly around the corner and use Confuse Ray,” he commanded the Pokemon. The Golbat flew around the corner and unleashed a hypnotic ray at the guard, who then stumbled into view.

Carmen then gave the man a swift knock to the head with her fist, knocking him out. “I doubt he’ll remember that one,” she said to her companions.

“Nice one,” Arlon commended her. “Now let’s get out of here.”

* * *

“Thanks again for your help, Naomi,” Arlon thanked the teenager who had ensured the success of his operation. “We couldn’t have pulled this off without you. As promised, here is the data you requested.” The Red Suns’ leader held out a datapad containing the files and handed it to the girl.

“Thanks so much!” the girl replied as she took the datapad. “I’m sure I can find something here to open people’s eyes.”

“Good luck,” Arlon told her. “I hope you can pull it off, but it won’t be easy.”

“I know that, but I’ve done stuff like this before.”

“Really now?” Arlon asked. He had to admit, he was a bit intrigued.

“I post about this kind of stuff on the Spacenet all the time,” Naomi explained.

“I see. Well, if you ever need help with anything, you know where to find us.” The Genevan mercenary turned to look at the warehouse that he had rented on Harmonia that had been serving as the Red Suns’ base on the planet for the past few days. “Now, come along, I’ll take you back into town.”

* * *

“Arlon, we ‘ave a situation!” Rena shouted almost as soon as the Red Suns’ leader set foot back into the base.

“What now?” Arlon asked.

“Petra and Kiril are in trouble,” the Parisian explained.

“The Supremacist presence in Sector 19 was greater than anticipated,” Luke added.

“Alright, let’s get moving,” Arlon responded. “Rena, tell Matt to prep the engines.” He then turned to Luke as Rena headed off. “Luke, I’m leaving the base in your care.”

“You got it, boss,” the Alliance merc told him. “I’ll have this place fully operational by the time you got back. Go kick some Supremacist ass for me.”

“You can count on it, mate.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, this one certainly turned out different than originally intended, but I am happy with the results. I actually had originally planned for this part to end right at the moment in Volume 2, Chapter 9 where the Helix came across the Corsair in Sector 19 just after fleeing from Heilovic in Sector 18 at the end of Volume 2, Chapter 8, but since this ended up increasing in length with new ideas, I pushed it to the beginning of the next part, which was looking like it was going to be really short anyway. So, looking at the timeline, this part takes place directly between Chapter 3 and Chapter 4 of Volume 2. I chose not to put it at that point in the series because the narrative of Spacemon as a whole flows better this way.
> 
> Now let’s get onto the details! The first scene is when Arlon recruits the new pilot, Matt Suzuki. It’s not really tied to the rest of the plot of this part that much, but it was a scene I really wanted to include, and it was one of the first scenes I came up with when I started thinking about writing Seeing Red. So, there you have it. It’s also another chance to show off Alliance diversity. If you couldn’t tell from the name, he’s at least part Japanese. And he’s also similar to the Helix’s pilot, Minerva, with sarcastic quips except he’s more of an asshole about it. Of course there are a few other new characters here too. What I was trying to set up here is that, as the Red Suns expand and the lieutenants take on more responsibility as independent leaders, we get to see new team members get to shine. Carmen Martinez is like this fiery-tempered, but stealthy, roguish fighter from the Alliance who would totally be played by Michelle Rodriguez in a live-action adaptation, and Matthias Antoniou is a kickass hacker from the Geneva Confederacy state of New Greece, specifically the capital world, the moon of Gaia known as Athína. He’s definitely not as good as Meta from Tempore Ex Machina, but he’s not a sociopath either, so there’s that.
> 
> However, the real interesting appearance here is Naomi! You may remember her from Part 3 of Alex’s Origin Story. At some point I randomly decided that Harmonia happened to be her homeworld, and the GM was actually the one who suggested that she make a cameo and that the corporation they stole from be the one her father runs. It’s a small Galaxy, it seems. It was also a good way to stir up more feels for Alex by showing what happened to her afterwards. It’s so sad that Naomi turned Alex down because she thought she loved somebody back home, but then found out she didn’t because of the new perspective she gained because of Alex. Now Naomi is really kicking herself for not staying with her.
> 
> As for random plot details, remember those Zubat fossils we found way back in Volume 1, Chapter 12? Well, Arlon revived it into an actual Zubat somewhere along the way thanks to the power of Genevan science! And he evolved it once so far. It seemed like an appropriate Pokemon for this mission, so I had it make an appearance. After all, this is still a Pokemon story. And, last but not least, this part wraps up with the setup for the next part of Seeing Red.


	38. Seeing Red, Part 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Red Suns face off with the Romanov Supremacy during a mission to steal vital intel.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As with the last part of Seeing Red, this piece was written during Volume 3, but it falls in the timeline concurrently with the early part of Volume 2, so that is where it has been inserted in the series. It's specific position in the timeline is concurrent to the events on Messina, directly after the events of the third part of Seeing Red.

Heavy laser fire flashed past the _Corsair_ on all sides as the Red Suns’ Frigate weaved through the battle. The technologically superior Supremacist ships were decimating the Romanov Union fleet despite their smaller numbers.

 _This is one hell of a first mission!_ Matt thought as he masterfully maneuvered the ship. The _Corsair_ ’s new pilot lived for the thrill of space combat. He felt the rush of adrenaline as he rolled the ship away from incoming fire and squeezed between the ships.

The _Corsair_ rumbled as it took a few hits. Of course, even with _his_ piloting skills, the amount of laser fire and missiles flying back and forth between the warring Romanov factions meant that they were bound to take a few hits. At least the shields absorbed most of the damage.

“Are you sure we can’t return fire?” Matt asked his new employer.

“Remember, we don’t want to attract any unnecessary attention,” Arlon responded. “Just break through and get us down to the planet.”

“Alright, but don’t blame me if we get blown to pieces.” Matt returned his attention to the battle. He dodged past another volley of fire, pushing further toward the planet below.

As the _Corsair_ neared the far side of the battle, a Supremacy Broadsword class heavy cruiser charged across the frigate’s path as it moved to ram a Union destroyer. “Hang onto your asses!” Matt shouted as he quickly dove the ship down to avoid collision. “I need all weapons front now!” he added as he spotted the carcass of a Union ship obstructing his new path.

“Open fire!” Arlon commanded the gunners. The _Corsair_ lit the destroyed ship up with its ion cannons and heavy plasma beam, tearing it to pieces. Matt flew straight through the explosion, threaded the needle between another Broadsword and its unfortunate victim, then leveled the ship out.

“And, we’re clear!” the pilot exclaimed as he fired the _Corsair_ ’s engines to maximum and put some distance between the Red Suns and the battle.

“Nice work, mate,” Arlon complimented him. “Take us in atmosphere and prepare for a hot drop!”

* * *

Kiril, Petra, and their two remaining men hurried down the long corridor of the Romanov military installation. The sound of their pursuers echoed behind them.

“So much for simple snatch and grab!” Kiril shouted as they ran.

“Well, we weren’t exactly expecting an entire Supremacist fleet to show up _out of nowhere!_ ” Petra yelled back to her fellow Romanov.

The mission had been simple enough: Infiltrate the Union base and download some intel that could potentially be leveraged against Mr. Silver. Unfortunately, this particular base was one of the Union’s key installations in its Outer Rim territories, making it a prime target for the Supremacy, who had begun systematically capturing Union territories over the past several weeks.

Getting in had been easy, but the Supremacists had since landed on the planet and stormed the facility. With the intel secured, the surviving members of the team rushed back to the installation’s landing platform. The two Romanov Red Suns lieutenants had already lost several men making their escape, and Kiril was determined _not_ to lose any more.

Rounding the final corner before the landing platform, the Red Suns found their path blocked by a large set of blast doors. Kiril immediately reached for the explosives and tossed them to his men. “Ivanov, Han, place charges there, there, and there!” the large Romanov ordered the two subordinates, pointing at several weak points on the blast doors. “Petra, cover us.”

“You got it, big guy,” Petra replied as she drew her pistol, and turned to face the Supremacist troops closing in on them. The former bounty hunter fired off a few shots, downing one of the soldiers, then threw out a Pokeball. Her Seviper hissed as she uncoiled herself. “Gadjuka, use Poison Tail!” Petra commanded the lethal snake Pokemon. The Seviper slithered forward and swiped at another soldier with her razor-sharp tail blade, slicing right through the man’s throat and spraying blood across the wall.

The final Supremacist soldier froze in horror at the brutality, giving Petra the perfect kill shot. She pulled the trigger once and the body slumped to the floor. Of course, this only bought the Red Suns a bit of time, as Petra could spot another squad moving down the corridor toward them. She recalled her Pokemon and ducked back around the corner. “How’s that door going?!” she asked.

“Ready to blow!” Kiril responded gleefully. “Stand back!” The four Red Suns took several paces back, then the Romanov demolitions expert triggered the explosives. The loud crack of the explosion was followed by a loud clang as the massive steel doors fell to the floor. “Move! Move! Move!”

The Red Suns passed through the smoke cloud, right into the sights of ten laser rifles.

* * *

Petra and Kiril stood back-to-back, surrounded by Supremacist troopers and their Bisharps. Their weapons were out of charge and their last two men lay dead at their feet. The squad leader barked angrily in Romanov for them to surrender.

“You’re not ready to give up just yet, are ya, big guy?” Petra asked her comrade.

“No,” Kiril replied firmly. “Let’s show them how the Red Suns do things!”

Before the Supremacists had a chance to react, Kiril charged forward and tackled one to the ground and wrestled the rifle out of his hands. Petra used his distraction to pull out another Pokeball and release her Gyarados. With a few nimble steps, the Romanov woman quickly scaled the serpent’s back.

“Yulong, use Earthquake!” Petra commanded. The Gyarados began slamming the ground with his powerful tail, creating a massive tremor. The powerful attack knocked several of the Supremacist troops to the ground and knocked out a few Bisharps.

“Ha ha ha ha!” Kiril laughed like a madman as the ground shook beneath him. While he certainly took quite a beating from the hit, the large Romanov man could easily take the punishment. “Prizrak, Focus Blast!” Kiril’s Gengar floated up from under the ground and fired off a blast of powerful energy at one of the Bisharps and took it out. Kiril then fired off a burst of rounds from his newly obtained rifle, taking down another soldier.

The remaining Supremacists gathered themselves and began to return fire. Kiril quickly dove behind a crate while Petra nudged her Gyarados, allowing his strong scales to absorb the hits. The few remaining Bisharps then advanced forward and began wailing on the Pokemon, but miraculously he managed to stay up.

As if the two Red Suns didn’t have enough problems, another squad of Supremacists rushed onto the landing platform through the blast doors on the far side. _You have got to be kidding me_ , Petra thought as she planned her next move. “Yulong, use Aqua Tail!” she commanded her Pokemon. The Gyarados reared up his thick tail and swept it across the enemies around him, knocking the Bisharps away from him. The former bounty hunter then pulled out her plasma knife and dove off Yulong’s back. She jabbed the blade into one of the Supremacists’ neck then slid behind a nearby crate.

“Nice moves!” Kiril complimented her.

“Thanks, but we’re not out of the fire yet!” Petra shouted back as she peeked out from behind her cover to recall her injured Gyarados. There seemed to be no end to the Supremacist forces, and there was a whole other squad between the Red Suns and Petra’s ship, the _RUS Drakon_. “We can’t keep this up much longer!”

“Should we just run for it?!” Kiril suggested.

“At this point, that’s probably our best-”

The loud roar of engines drowned out the rest of Petra’s words as the _Corsair_ swept overhead. The Red Suns’ frigate lit up the ground with a volley from its ion cannons, sending the Supremacists running for cover.

“Ha ha! I will take that as ‘da!’” Kiril shouted in triumph. “Now is our chance!”

The two Romanov mercenaries ran for the _Drakon_ and successfully boarded while the _Corsair_ had their assailants pinned down. “Let’s get the hell out of here!” Petra shouted as she fired up the engines. She quickly aimed the small bucket skywards and rocketed into the atmosphere.

As the _Drakon_ broke through the cloud cover, Kiril opened up a channel to the _Corsair_. “Glad to see you guys in one piece,” Arlon’s voice immediately sounded over the comms. “We came as soon as we heard the Supremacists were launching an attack.”

“Thanks for the assist,” Petra responded. “Too bad the rest of our men didn’t make it.”

“That’s a shame, but they knew what they signed on for. We’re not done yet though. The Supremacists have blockaded the planet.”

“Then we will just have to smash through!” Kiril exclaimed.

“Damn right, mate. Stay behind the _Corsair_ and we’ll clear a path. We’ll see you on the other side. Matt, full speed ahead!”

Petra eased up on the throttle and brought the _Drakon_ in line behind the _Corsair_ as the larger ship shot past. The Supremacist ships opened fire upon the two ships, landing a few glancing blows on the _Corsair_. The unyielding vessels flew straight for a narrow opening between two cruisers and slipped through before they could close the gap.

“Damn, that kid’s good,” Petra commented on Matt’s flying as she watched the _Corsair_ roll unharmed between another pair of Broadswords, through a space a ship of that size just _shouldn’t_ fit through. For the _Drakon_ , the maneuver was much more reasonable.

Dodging past more laser fire, the _Corsair_ and the _Drakon_ successfully broke through to the open space on the other side. Free of the blockade, the two ships slipped into the safety of warp space.

* * *

The _Corsair_ dropped out of warp space near the Sector 19 warp gate to find it blocked off by a squadron of Supremacy heavy cruisers lead by a large destroyer. “Goddamn it!” Arlon cursed. “We should have seen this coming.”

“What do you wanna do, boss?” Matt asked. “The warp drive needs to cool before we can jump again.” As if to answer the pilot’s question, a light on the console lit up, indicating an incoming call from the Supremacists.

“Let’s see what the bastards want,” Arlon said. “But keep your distance. I hear they’re fond of tractor beams.” He pressed a button on the arm of the captain’s chair and the face of a Romanov officer appeared on the viewscreen.

“Hello. I am Captain Lee Heilovic of the Romanov Supremacy, Commander of the _RSS Envy_ ,” the officer introduced himself. “I believe that you have stolen something from the Supremacy. We would like it returned.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, mate,” Arlon lied. He hoped he could play it cool and get past these Romanovs without fighting.

“Who do you take me for?” the captain responded. “Your ship was flagged leaving Nosovo. I know you must have the data missing from our base.”

“Wasn’t your base when _we_ got there, mate,” Arlon replied bluntly, no longer seeing the need for deception. “If you want it, you’ll have to take it.”

“Very well. Engage tractor beams.”

“Matt, get us out of here!” Arlon commanded his pilot. “Take us into that asteroid field.”

“You got it!” Matt replied. He pulled a hard turn, then fired the engines to maximum. The _Corsair_ rocketed toward the asteroid field as the Supremacist vessels closed in.

Looking out the viewport, Arlon spotted the _Drakon_ dropping out of warp space. The Red Suns leader could tell Petra quickly took in the situation, as the Romanov bucket veered hard as it appeared, moving in the opposite direction of the Supremacist ships. One of the cruisers broke off to pursue her, but the others, including Heilovic’s destroyer remained focused on the _Corsair_. _Good_ , Arlon thought. The data the Supremacists were after was on the _Drakon_ after all. Arlon knew that the small bucket had a very good chance of evading just one heavy cruiser.

Matt skillfully maneuvered the _Corsair_ amongst the asteroids, taking as few hits as possible. This gave the Red Suns a huge advantage over the Supremacists, whose much larger ships had to take the time to fire at the asteroids to make any form of progress.

“Drive’s good in two minutes!” Matt informed the bridge crew.

“Excellent,” Arlon responded. “Hang in there a little longer.”

The Red Runs’ ace pilot dodged past several more asteroids, attempting to make it as hard as possible for the Supremacists to follow. It seemed to work, as Heilovic’s destroyer turned away and headed for the gate.

“He certainly gave up easy,” Matt commented.

“I wouldn’t be so sure,” Arlon replied. “That Heilovic seemed important. I’m willing to bet he’s got better things to do than chase us around.”

“What could possibly be better than chasing us around?” the pilot asked jokingly.

“It doesn’t matter,” Arlon told him. “As long as it makes our job easier.”

“Whatever. We can jump now, by the way.”

“Jump to a nearby system, hopefully this one’s all clear by the time we return.”

“You got it.”

* * *

“Yeah, he’s finally surfaced,” Luke’s voice sounded over the comms. “For a university talk of all things.”

Arlon watched the data appear on the viewscreen as his Lieutenant filled him in. “You have got to be kidding me,” the Red Suns’ leader responded.

“No joke,” Luke told him. “Trust me, I was just as surprised as you.”

The _Corsair_ floated through the asteroid field near the Sector 19 gate. The Red Suns has spent the past few days jumping around the sector to avoid the Supremacist patrols, and now the mercenary organization’s ship was lying low before jumping while Arlon dealt with this situation. Finally, he had a concrete lead on Dr. Armstrong. There was just one problem.

“If it’s a university talk, grabbing him is going to be all but impossible,” Arlon realized.

“What do you mean?” Luke asked.

“If we grab him in such a public place, Mr. Silver is guaranteed to know we have him,” Arlon explained. “Remember, we can’t let this guy fall into his hands.”

“Not to mention zat ‘e probably ‘as other agents looking for ‘im,” Rena added.

“That is also a problem,” Arlon observed. “We have to do something, otherwise someone else will snatch him. Luke, why don’t you see if your old OmniGuard pals can lend us a hand?”

“I can try, but I doubt we’ll get anywhere from that angle,” the former Alliance paramilitary soldier replied.

“It’s worth a try anyway,” Arlon told him. “Good luck, mate.”

“You too boss.”

Arlon turned to Rena as the screen blipped out. “I don’t suppose you’ve got any ideas?” he asked her. “Because I’m at a loss.”

“What about ze _‘elix_?” Rena suggested. “Maybe zey could ‘elp?”

“You know, that’s actually not a bad ide-”

“Heads up boss,” Matt spoke up. “A ship just dropped out of the gate.”

“Supremacist?” Arlon asked.

“Nah,” the pilot responded. “Alliance make. I’ll throw it up on the screen.”

“Speak of the bloody devil,” Arlon said, recognizing the familiar shape of the _UAS Helix_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And, another one’s done! Much like Part 3, I had a bunch of other stuff I wanted to get to, but ideas kept happening and it got pushed to another part. Although, I was smart this time, and instead of trying to tack it onto the front of the next part I decided to push Seeing Red to a final total of seven parts instead of the six I had originally planned on writing. I felt like it would make each part a tighter, more contained narrative overall, so it’s a good thing. I'm proud of how it all worked out.
> 
> This part concludes the setup from the end of last part, and gives us the first intense action since Part 1. What I wanted to do here was show off the “Romanov Crisis” a bit more, while putting the Red Suns in the action, but really it was secretly motivated by a need to explain why the Corsair just happened to be there when the Helix dropped out of warp space after escaping Heilovic. Giving Heilovic a cameo just made perfect sense to me! Arlon was right, he does have better things to do, namely investigating the Helix’s activities in the neighboring sector. So, if you want timeline placement, the majority of this part takes place concurrently with the events of Volume 2, Chapter 4, however, the scene with Heilovic takes place between that chapter and Volume 2, Chapter 5, and the final scene takes place concurrently with the beginning of Volume 2, Chapter 9, which is the reason I placed this and the last part after that chapter in the order. I felt like It just flowed better that way.
> 
> I really took some liberties with combat on this one. I actively tried to make combat scenes quicker than what you would find in the usual transcriptions of the actual sessions of the game, plus you can get away with all kinds of cool stuff, like one-shot kills everywhere! It works with the Red Suns because, unlike the Helix crew, they aren’t opposed to killing. If having your Seviper slice a guy’s jugular saves time in a dire situation, you’d better do it.


	39. Volume 2, Chapter 10: Dr. Armstrong, Part I

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things get out of control when the Helix crew tracks down Dr. Armstrong on Parisia.

With the crew’s business on München complete, the _Helix_ makes the short flight to the neighboring moon of Parisia. Minerva brings the ship in atmosphere and docks in Calais, one of the major cities on Parisia, and the location of Belaviure University.

“We should go to the university now,” H declares. “We need to scout it out, come up with a plan, find seats-”

“One thing at a time,” Shane tells him. “We have two days. We can take our time and thoroughly scout out the campus.”

“I’m not going,” Morgan declares.

“What, afraid of paying off your student loans?” Minerva quips.

“Why not?” Dmitri asks.

“I can’t… I won’t,” Morgan says.

“Why?” Dmitri asks again.

“When I left, I told myself I would never go back.”

“Well, surprise, here we are.”

“Look, I _can’t_ go there. If you have a problem with that then get over it.”

“Well I do have a problem with it,” H chimes in. “This is something that is most likely going to be very important to the progression of Humanity as a whole. You are the only one here who knows Geneva, you are the one who knows the layout of this campus, and, should anything go wrong, you are the one who is actually most equipped to deal with it because you are the only one to have worked with this university for a long time. As such, I believe it is in our best interest, and the interest of Humanity and the future itself, for you to get over your feelings and go with us.”

“It’s exactly because I know this university so well that I can’t go down there,” Morgan tells him.

“We are still going to need your help, someway or another,” H insists. “You are getting off this ship and that is final.”

“H, don’t push her,” Shane warns the cyborg, looking quite annoyed with him.

“Why not?” H asks.

“If I am going to go, I’m at least going to need some new clothes,” Morgan says, reluctantly agreeing to go. “Make it as girly as possible, something unusually colorful, with glitter or something.”

“What?” asks Shane, a bit shocked by the words coming out of Morgan’s mouth. Girly is very out of character for her.

“Why?” Alex asks.

“I don’t want anyone to recognize me,” Morgan explains.

“So… It’s a super secret spy mission!? We can all dress up like Space Ninjas! And then we can sneak in and drop smoke bombs and grab this doctor guy before anyone even knows what happened!”

“I… don’t think that will be necessary,” Shane tells her.

“ _Aw…_ ”

“We’ll go pick something up,” Shane says, turning to Morgan. “Alex, we will probably need your help.”

“Okay!” Alex agrees.

They exit the ship and find their way to the nearest shopping mall. As a center for Genevan and galactic fashion, it is nearly impossible to go anywhere on Parisia without running into a  clothing store. The crew quickly comes across a fashionable women’s clothing store.

“So, we’re gonna need your help with this part, Alex,” Shane says as they enter the store.

“Oh, so just because I’m a girl you think I know about clothes? I grew up on the streets, I never had fancy shit like this.” She grabs a girly looking top off the shelf as an example. “And besides, I’d never be caught dead wearing something like this. Too girly.”

“Well, that’s exactly what we want, isn’t it?” Shane tells her. “So just find something you would hate to wear because chances are Morgan would hate it too, if not more.”

“Oh, I get it… You’re a genius!” Alex proclaims. “Alright… Let’s see here… maybe this… or... hmm, this looks hideously pink. It will do nicely.” They spend several minutes browsing and eventually come up with a pink outfit that Morgan would never wear; the perfect disguise.

“That’ll be one-thousand credits,” the cashier tells them as she rings up the items.

“That’s a bit much,” Dmitri replies. “Look, it’s for our friend, it’s super important,” he continues, trying to sound as charming as possible.

The cashier looks over at H, and raises an eyebrow, “He certainly needs clothes, I’ll grant you that.”

“No, no, no,” Alex tells the cashier. “Not him! Our other friend. She’s still on the ship.”

“Is this friend worse off than him?”

“Yes!” Alex shouts, waving her arms frantically. “Why do you think she’s still on the ship!? She’s having a total fashion disaster!”

“Poor thing… I’ll give you fifty percent off, just this once.”

With a new outfit for Morgan, the crew returns to the _Helix_.

Morgan shudders as she lifts the top out of the bag.

“It’s not _too_ girly is it?” Shane asks, seeing Morgan’s disgusted face.

“No… It’s fine… I don’t think anyone will recognize me,” Morgan tells him. she puts the top back in the bag and brings it to her room. She returns a few minutes later wearing the new outfit.

“Ha! You look ridiculous!” Alex giggles. She stops abruptly when Morgan gives her a death-stare “Okay, shutting up now.”

The others remain silent, for fear of Morgan’s wrath.

* * *

With Morgan’s “disguise” all sorted out, the crew disembarks once more and they make their way to Belaviure University. It’s quite a ways from the spaceport, but they get there pretty quickly using the mag-train. Morgan then leads them to the campus from the train stop.

“So, now what?” Shane asks.

“Well, it is a college campus, there are flyers everywhere. I’m sure one will let us know where the talk is happening,” Morgan replies. “Over here,” she adds, leading them to a nearby holo bulletin board. “Friday at noon in Fontaine Auditorium in Lèmieux Hall.”

“Great, where is that?” Shane asks.

“This way,” Morgan tells him.

She leads the crew across campus and into a building. The entrance to the auditorium is just off the main lobby. They enter into an open auditorium with a small stage at the front with a podium set up for speakers.

“This place isn’t terribly big,” says Morgan. “We should be able to easily monitor the entrances.”

“And we can sit up near the front so, in case something does go wrong, we can easily access Armstrong and get him out of here,” Shane adds.

“Alright,” Morgan says. “Let’s go pick up tickets.”

They exit the auditorium and Morgan approaches the ticket office. The person behind the counter looks up at her.

“Can I help you?” he asks.

“Yeah, are there any tickets left for the Armstrong talk?” Morgan asks him.

“Zere are still quite a few left. It’s not sold out yet, but it’s quickly filling up.”

“Great. I’ll take five for my friends over there,” she tells them man, pointing over to the rest of the crew.

“Alright, zat will be 50 credits each.”

“Thanks,” Morgan tells the man as she purchases the tickets.

With nothing else to do, the crew returns to the _Helix_ to wait out the next couple of days.

* * *

On Friday morning, the crew returns to the Belaviure campus and claims seats up near the front of the auditorium. They monitor the entrances as students and faculty begin trickling into the auditorium. Alex and Morgan notice a pair of suspicious looking men wearing long coats enter and sit all the way in the back.

“Those guys look really suspicious,” Alex says to Morgan.

“Yeah,” Morgan agrees. “Shane, Dmitri, I think those guys back there might be after Armstrong.”

“I’ll try probing their minds,” Dmitri suggests, as he begins focusing on them. “They seem very focused on Armstrong, I’m willing to bet they're here to grab him.”

“Yeah,” Shane agrees. “I’ll sit near them and keep an eye out.” He makes his way to the back of the auditorium and sits a few seats away from the suspicious men.

A man walks onto the stage. He has balding blond hair and a disheveled look about him. He looks a bit older than the picture, but he is definitely Dr. Armstrong. A professor moves up to the podium and gives a brief introduction.

“Ladies and gentlemen, zank you for joining us zis afternoon,” the professor says. “Today we are proud to 'ave ze honor of 'osting Dr. Louis Armstrong, one of ze leading experts on theoretical biology. Without any further adieu, I present to you Dr. Armstrong.”

Armstrong approaches the podium, briefly clearing his throat before diving right into his lecture. He opens up with applications of biological engineering and, from there springboards into alternative biological models of life. The crew, still distracted by the suspicious men, have a hard time following along, especially Alex, who has absolutely no idea what he’s talking about. H, however is completely engrossed in what the man is saying. Armstrong continues on into biologically engineered models of life, creating new types of life artificially in a lab setting. He seems to get lost in his own ramblings as opposed to actually explaining anything. He wraps up with discussing modifying existing life into new structures, but, at this point, he seems to be a lot less coherent. Finished with his lecture, Armstrong steps off to the side momentarily and the professor steps up to the podium again.

“And zat’s it. We will now be fielding questions for Dr. Armstrong.”

“Yes, I have a question,” H says, standing up on his chair. “Do you remember anyone who could do this!?” He shoots lighting up into the air and it sparks across the room, but it doesn’t appear to cause any damage. “Because I remember you. And you’re supposed to be dead.”

People start getting up from their chairs and running out of the room screaming. The two suspicious men get up and start moving up toward the stage. Shane, temporarily distracted by H, misses them getting up and attempts to go after them, but he has trouble because of the people starting to run towards the exits. Thinking quickly, Shane teleports in front of them and knocks one of them over. The other shows a temporary look of confusion before reaching for a Pokeball. He throws out a Mightyena which growls angrily, baring its teeth.

Alex jumps up onto the stage and attempts to get Armstrong out of the room. “C'mon, we need to get out of here!” she shouts at him. The girl tries to pull him toward the exit, but he doesn’t move. He stares out into the confusion, dumbstruck by the scene unfolding before him. “Hey! Gramps, pay attention!” Alex shouts, jumping and waving her arms in his face. “Hey, Inspector Gizmo, help me get him out of here!” she shouts, turning over to H. The cyborg jumps up onto the stage and together they are able to lead Armstrong to the exit by the stage and get him out of the room.

“K.E.Y.S., you’re up!” Shane shouts, releasing his own Pokemon. Dmitri and Morgan follow suit and send out Metang and Bellsprout.

“Mightyena, Fire Fang!” the man commands his Pokemon. Flames flicker out of its mouth as it charges forward and clamps its teeth around Shane’s Klefki, leaving the Pokemon looking pretty injured.

“K.E.Y.S., Metal Sound!” Shane commands his Pokemon. The Klefki furiously jingles its keys at the Mightyena, but the Pokemon doesn’t seem to be bothered.

“Maine, Flash Cannon,” Dmitri instructs his Metang. It builds up a bright light and blasts it at the Mightyena knocking it into the nearby seats.

“Édouard, use Sleep Powder!” Morgan commands her new Pokemon. The Bellsprout shoots out a puff of shimmering powder at the Mightyena, putting it to sleep.

“D.E.R.P., it’s your turn,” Shane says, recalling his Klefki and sending out his Inkay.

The other suspicious man gets himself up off the floor, a pissed off expression on his face. He reaches for a Pokeball and sends out a Sharpedo. “Ice Fang!” he commands it. The Sharpedo rushes forward, its teeth frozen over, and clamps its jaws around Morgan’s Bellsprout, knocking him out.

“Maine, Flash Cannon again!” Dmitri commands his Mentang. It blasts another shot of light at the sleeping Mightyena. The force of the blast wakes it up, but it looks pretty worn down.

“Go, Jean!” Morgan shouts, sending out her next Pokemon as Shane vanishes.

“Sharpedo, Crunch that Metang!” the brutal Pokemon’s trainer commands. It charges forward and sinks its serrated fangs into Maine’s metal armor. Cracks start to form and the teeth sink in deeper. Its eyes start flickering as the cracks spread, then they go out.

“Mightyena, Crunch,” the other trainer commands his Pokemon. It lunges forward at Shane’s Inkay, but the squid Pokemon dodges out of the way and the Mightyena’s teeth sink into a chair.

“Jean, Volt Tackle!” Morgan orders her Pokemon. The Pikachu starts charging down the aisle, sparking off electricity. He leaps into the air and slams into the Sharpedo, smashing it into the seats.

Without Shane to command him, D.E.R.P. floats over to the Sharpedo and attacks it of his own accord, knocking it out of the fight. Its trainer recalls his Pokemon and moves to run after H and Alex. Dmitri, in a blind rage over the death of his Pokemon, pulls out his laser sword and charges after him.

Shane reappears like a phantom and lunges at the Mightyena, whittling it down a little further. Confused at what happened, it lunges at D.E.R.P. and tries to crunch its fangs around the Inkay. The Mightyena’s teeth sink in, leaving the Inkay wounded.

“Jean, Electro Ball!” Morgan instructs her Pikachu. Jean charges at the Mightyena and leaps into the air. He throws out a ball of electricity which crashes into the enemy Pokemon, bringing it very close to going down. “Now, finish it off with Volt Tackle!” Jean lands on a seat, then springs off of it at the Mightyena, dealing a pretty heavy blow. Miraculously, the Pokemon stays up, but the blow leaves it unable to move, sparks still coursing along its body.

“D.E.R.P., use Topsy-Turvy!’ Shane shouts. The Inkay flips upside-down as his eyes flash, but nothing happens. “Okay, now it’s my turn.” He starts glitching out as he builds up power. Spite just radiates out from him as he inflicts it upon the Mightyena. “Well, that’s... not exactly what I meant to do…”

“Mightyena, Fire Fang!” The trainer instructs his Pokemon. Due to being so beat up, it misses the attack and bites another seat, setting it on fire.

“Jean, Slam!” Morgan shouts. Her Pikachu leaps at the Mightyena and crashes into it. Somehow the Pokemon still refuses to go down.

“R.A.G.E., it’s your turn now,” Shane shouts, swapping out to his Clefable. “Use Dazzling Gleam!” A brilliant light radiates off the newly released Pokemon and strikes the Mightyena, finally taking it down.

* * *

Dmitri relentlessly chases the assassin who murdered his beloved Metang. He pulls a Pokeball off his belt and throws out his Scyther.

“Gigan, run him down!” he commands his Pokemon. The Scyther lunges forward, slashing at the man’s back..

“Agh!” he grunts as the razor-sharp blade swipes across his back, knocking him to the floor.

“You killed Maine!” Dmitri yells at him as he points his laser sword at the man’s neck.

“ _No! Oh my God!_ ” the man screams as Dmitri raises his sword to strike. He brings it down, running the blade right through the man’s face. The man slumps, leaving a smear of blood along the wall. Dmitri grabs the man’s Pokeball and returns to the auditorium.

He solemnly walks down the aisle toward his fallen Metang.

“What did you do!?” Shane yells, but Dmitri ignores him. “What. Did. You. Just. Do?”

Dmitri continues forward and kneels down in front of his Pokemon, resting his hand upon its lifeless husk.

“We need to get out of here!” Morgan shouts. She and Shane run to the exit but see Dmitri isn’t following. “C’mon, we need to go _now_!”

Shane and Morgan start dragging Dmitri with them, but he refuses to let go of his Metang.

“You have to leave it or we’ll never get out in time!” Shane shouts.

Understanding the necessity, Dmitri reluctantly loosens his grip and follows after Morgan and Shane.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well that certainly took a dark turn… And I’ve come to the conclusion that we’re terrible people. Dmitri’s player was initially was going to kill that dude, but then he wasn’t so sure if he was gonna do it. And then we encouraged him to! Character development! Or at least as much as you can expect from Dmitri.
> 
> Jokes aside, we did have a Pokemon death… RIP Maine, may your memory live on with the other fallen Pokemon, F.I.R.E. and Cerberus (and the Pokemon that died in Arlon's origin story). That Sharpedo was a lethal beast and we only made it worse. Shane’s player has feats that allow him to reroll any roll, and he used both of them on the Sharpedo’s damage rolls, and made it progressively more damaging each time! The goal was to do the opposite! And he had soooo many bad rolls this session. Damn you RNGsus!


	40. Volume 2, Chapter 11: Dr. Armstrong, Part II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Safely back aboard the Helix, Dr. Armstrong reveals the details of H's past.

H and Alex run away from the auditorium, pulling the confused Dr. Armstrong along with them. They get to the mag-train station quickly and safely board the train.

“What’s going on!?” Armstrong shouts out in the empty car as he starts to come around.

“We’re saving your ass, Gramps!” Alex shouts back.

“Wh- What happened?”

“There were people trying to kill you!”

“Wait, there were?” H asks. “What?”

“Yeah, the shady guys in the back,” Alex tells him.

“There weren’t any shady guys,” H says matter-of-factly.

“Yeah, there were.”

“Couldn’t have been.”

“You were too busy focusing on the lecture to notice.”

“Hmm…”

They finish the ride in silence and quickly make it back to the ship. The others return only a few minutes later and they all board the _Helix_.

“Looks like you made the evening news,” Minerva says as they walk past the bridge. They look over and see news drones flying above the Belaviure campus on the news report playing on the viewscreen.

“I told you we should have dressed up like Space Ninjas!” Alex blurts out.

“We weren’t planning on it,” Shane tells Minerva, ignoring Alex's comment. “Just get us the hell out of here.”

“Don’t wanna be on TV?” Minerva asks as she fires up the engines. “I don’t blame you. Being on TV’s overrated anyway.”

Dmitri wanders off and locks himself away in his room while the others bring Armstrong to the mess area to talk to him.

“What happened?” H asks the group. “Why did we have to take Armstrong?”

“There were people there to kill him,” Shane tells him.

“I told him that already,” Alex chimes in. “But he didn’t believe me.”

“Hmm…”  H grunts. He then turns to Armstrong. “Apparently there were people trying to kill you. And they were there… but they weren’t.”

“Well, there’s a reason we didn’t tell you,” Morgan tells H. “We wanted to avoid conflict.”

“That’s pretty usual for your decisions,” H reacts. “Armstrong, how are you feeling?”

“I think I’ll be fine,” the doctor replies between breaths, still winded from the run to the ship.

“I’m offering this as a courtesy,” Shane tells him. “I can have my Inkay here make you forget everything after the talk, but it’s your choice.”

“Perhaps it is just best to forget,” the doctor replies. D.E.R.P.’s eyes start flashing and Armstrong falls asleep in his chair.

“Does he seem… _off_... at all to any of you?” Morgan asks.

“Resurrection does weird things to the body,” H replies. “Or, at least, I would assume so.”

“What?” Alex asks, a confused look on her face.

“He was resurrected so that he could teach me how to become the perfect being,” H tells her. “That’s why we were looking for him. And apparently he’s important to some other people or something.”

“H… I don’t think resurrection is possible,” Morgan chimes in.

“Nor do I, but he’s living proof so… anything’s possible.”

“Well, don’t you think we should ask him what happened first?” Morgan asks. “Maybe he didn’t die.”

“Hmm… That may be. But it doesn’t explain what happened… when _everyone_ died.”

“What do you mean ‘everyone died?’ What happened?”

“I woke up one day in the lab and… no one was there. All were gone and I was left as the chosen one.”

“Maybe they just left you there,” Alex suggests. “I can see why they would,” she adds under her breath.

“It was an incredibly complex and secret lab facility,” H tells her. “Followed by the fact that everything was just gone. Things just don’t magically vanish. People would move, there’d be bureaucracy, there’d be complications.”

“Maybe they took everything with them,” Alex suggests.

“Over the course of a few hours?” H asks incredulously. “Impossible.”

“How do you know it was only hours, huh?” Alex asks. “It could have been days, or weeks, or years even. I’ve seen movies! I know lab experiments can wake up after years and not remember anything right!”

“I would know,” H says firmly. “I know this day better than any day I can remember. This was the day I was chosen. Of course I would know.”

“Yeah? Well… you’re just a stupid _robot man!_ ”

“Stop it,” Morgan tells Alex. “That’s not helping. H, more about this day. You say you woke up and everything was gone?”

“Precisely,” H tells her. “The building was abandoned. Everything was gone; it was simply an empty building. All that was left was #1 and myself… And it was at that point that I knew that, through the process we had begun, I was the one who was chosen in the end. I was chosen by the Divine, so the rest weren’t needed. Or so I thought, until now.”

“Chosen for what exactly?” Morgan asks.

“I was one of many subjects, experiments,” H explains.

“So you were born in a test tube?” Alex asks.

“I don’t know how I was born,” H tells her. “Do _you_ remember how you were born? No you don’t. No one does. I grew up in the lab, raised and created and molded in the lab to come to perfection through testing, through trials. The inferior were weeded out but I was the one left standing. I was the chosen one, and as such I was to lead Humanity’s perfection, which is what I have been doing ever since.”

“ _Right_ ,” Shane responds.

“The lab itself is what helped me gain perfection,” H continues. “This is a man from the lab. Everyone vanished from the lab when they were no longer needed. Apparently he has been needed again, so he is back. I can only assume he has been resurrected for a divine purpose because I am lacking in what I need.”

“Did it ever occur to you that he never died?” Shane asks.

“Of course he died. That’s why he left.”

“Death is not the only way to leave.”

“Where am I?” Armstrong asks as he begins waking up.

“Welcome to the _UAS Helix_ ,” Shane tells him.

“Why am I here?” the doctor asks.

“We just wanted to ask you a few things,” Morgan tells him.

“Such as?”

“Such as why you’ve come back from the dead,” says H.

“Only he believes that,” Shane tells Armstrong.

“I’ve never been dead.”

“Your memories have been tampered with once,” says H. “Why… where did you go? Do you not recognize me? I am Experiment #1749XQR5Z-H.”

“Come again?” the doctor asks.

“Experiment #1749XQR5Z-”

“-H,” the doctor finishes, snapping to alertness. He sits up and starts poking H in the face, seemingly not believing the sight before him. “Is it really you? After all this time?”

“I am the one who passed the tests,” says H.

“I am amazed that you are still alive.”

“So am I. You’re the one who died, although you don’t remember it.”

“I never died.”

“As I said, you don’t remember it.”

“You two know each other then?” Shane asks.

“Yes,” says the doctor. “Although I have not seen him since the project got shut down.”

“Shut down?” H asks, sounding very confused.

“Yes.”

“I thought it was finished. That’s why everyone left.”

“He says he woke up one day and everyone was gone,” Morgan explains.

“The project was shut down rather abruptly,” Armstrong continues. “Our major funders… removed all their support…”

“Because there was no more need…” says H. “I was… chosen… I was the… completed product.”

“Has he always been this weird?” Shane asks Armstrong.

“They all were… a little _different_ … yes,” the doctor replies.

“What was this project exactly?” Morgan asks.

“We were… creating the next stage of human evolution, of human life. A stronger man-machine interface. A next-generation cyborg, if you will.”

“Wait…” says Alex. “You were making Eliminators?”

“Machines disguised as humans… not the same as humans becoming _something else_ through machines. They’d be of poor use to Starnet!”

“You didn’t think you were the only one who’s seen the film, did you?” he asks when Alex gives him a surprised look. “What we were working on was something much… _more_. But the project was incomplete.”

“Incomplete in the sense that I was able to go out and continue to grow,” H tells him. “But complete in the sense that I had passed the trials.”

“We were only just beginning,” Armstrong tells him. “We were lucky to find a very generous benefactor to fund our research, as long as we delivered results.”

“Was this benefactor, by any chance, named Mr. Silver?” Shane asks.

“Yes. As long as we delivered results on schedule, he answered questions.”

“How long has it been since you delivered results?” Morgan asks.

“We kept to the schedule perfectly for years, providing him with progress updates, and occasionally he asked for one of the subjects. We would send them, and would never hear back. This was the arrangement for years… until, one day… he withdrew all funding. We begged Mr. Silver to continue the funding… we were just about to reach the next stage… augmenting the remaining subjects on a micro-level.” He turns back to H. “Everything we did to you up until then was just to prepare you for the second phase… Wide-scale cybernetic reconfiguration on a cellular level.”

“Genius,” says H.

“As soon as I told this to Mr. Silver…” Armstrong continues. “He withdrew all support. He was done. Without him… we were unable to complete the experiments… We had to pack up, move on, give up.”

“What happened to everything else?” H asks.

“There was nothing else… this Mr. Silver… he took so many of our subjects. You were the only one left.”

“And why was I left?”

“You would have been the next… We would have grown a new batch and continued… but you were the last when he withdrew his funding.”

“But can we continue now?” H asks. “We may not have his funding, but we have funding enough, at least somehow, apparently.”

“If you’re willing to fund this yourself, H, then feel free,” Shane tells him.

“Wait…” says H, turning back to Armstrong, “You said grow another batch… How could you replace me? I’m the one that worked, succeeded.”

“You were all the same,” Armstrong tells him. “You were all clones. The others… didn’t fail, we gave them to Mr. Silver.”

“Wait…” says Alex. “The other day you said this Mr. Silver guy was a man-mine-Pokemon thing… But what does that even mean? Who is he anyway?”

“Join the club,” Shane tells her.

“He’s a man we did some jobs for,” Morgan explains. “We never saw his face, never saw who he really is. He communicates through a network of cybernetically implanted Mr. Mimes, with screens for faces. No one knows who he is. Our old friend Arlon Jett is convinced that Mr. Silver lies at the head of a galactic conspiracy… That’s why he asked us to find Armstrong. He believes that Mr. Silver wants him killed and he wants to find out why.”

“Well, now that that’s out in the open air… Do you have any idea why Mr. Silver might be after you now?” Shane asks Armstrong.

“Perhaps he is after my research…” Armstrong tells him. “Perhaps he wants to silence me… destroy it… I cannot say. I never understood him.”

“Perhaps he wants to prevent the next step,” H suggests.

“Perhaps… It certainly was a… _controversial_ idea.”

“Controversy is the only way to change.”

“I agree, yes… But perhaps Mr. Silver feels otherwise… I cannot say… It would appear nowhere is safe for me now.” 

“You are welcome to stay on the ship with us,” Shane tells him.

“I present a danger to you… Are you sure-”

“Trust me, we’re already enough of a danger to ourselves.”

“Fair enough… I accept your gracious offer. Thank you”

“If I was simply one of many, then why was I left?” H asks Armstrong. “Why was I not moved with the project or-”

“The project was over.”

“Yes, but why was I left behind, why not dealt with or sent to Mr. Silver as a consolation prize?”

“Mr. Silver cut off all communication… he said that… he had all he needed and had no further interest.”

“Then why was I simply left alone in the building?”

“An oversight perhaps? I do not know…”

“Perhaps it is a divine blessing. I was chosen. I survived so that we might begin again!”

Dr Armstrong thinks for a moment, then puts his hands on H’s shoulders. “My boy, if you’re willing to continue, then… so am I.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well that was super enlightening! Not only was Armstrong H’s creator but he was working for Mr. Silver! That’s not entirely unexpected though… Mr. Silver is connected to everything. Mr. Silver used this project for his own ends, whatever he needed, which clearly wasn’t what the scientists were aiming to achieve, he got it, and cast the project aside. Mr. Silver is a dangerous man.
> 
> Surprise, surprise, H isn’t actually some chosen one, even though somehow he has still managed to convince himself of that… for the time being. All this did was make the GM redouble his efforts to find a way to break him down. But there was some super cool backstory revelation here nonetheless.


	41. Volume 2, Chapter 12: Omens

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Helix crew travels to the planet where Alex's father disappeared hoping to find clues in the Mirrored Temple and find out what happened to him.

“I can’t believe you’re going to keep the insane robot doctor who made Crazy McMurderface on the ship!” Alex shouts at Morgan and Shane. The three stand around the table in the mess area, H and Armstrong having left to begin preparations to continue their experiments.

“I actually trust him a lot more than I do H, so I think it’ll be okay,” Morgan tells her. “So please, try to calm down. Who knows, maybe he’ll even be able to keep H in line.”

“But they’re trying to make him _more powerful_!” Alex goes on, clear signs of distress on her face. “They're gonna turn him into some kind of murder machine! And let’s not forget that he tried to _kill_ me!”

“Well, as long he doesn’t try to hurt us then I think it’s fine,” says Morgan, still trying to get her to calm down.

“Please tell me how this is going to be fine! None of this makes any sense! We’re going all over the Galaxy doing all this crazy stuff, but no one even bothered to tell me why! I’m not a child, you can’t just keep this stuff from me! And you!” Alex continues, turning her attention to Shane. “What the hell are you!? You can teleport around and you have that weird glowing tattoo and-”

“Alex, calm down!” Morgan shouts, giving her a harsh look.

“But you need to start explaining this stuff to me!”

“Just stop yelling and let us,” Morgan tells her.

“It’s a really long story, “ Shane adds. “Are you sure you want to hear it?”

“ _Yes_.” 

“Alright,” Shane tells her, taking a seat at the table once more. “Like I said, it’s a long story; you may want to sit back down.”

Alex sits herself down and looks expectantly at Shane, eager to hear what he had to say. Shane clears his throat, pausing a moment to think before beginning his tale.

“I joined up with this crew shortly before we met Mr. Silver for the first time,” Shane begins. “I suppose that’s when our story truly began.”

“We had been traveling together for a while before,” Morgan adds. “But we met Shane just after we discovered the Genesect. Mr. Silver contacted us shortly thereafter because… H had created..." She shudders for a moment, as if recalling something terrible. “H had created some kind of warp goo.”

“Mr. Silver offered us a lot of money for samples of this goo,” Shane continues. “And then offered us even more money to travel to a set of coordinates in uncharted space… in a sector without a warp gate. Using a virus we stole from the Red Suns we were able to hack into a gate and launch ourselves into deep warp space on a course for this sector.”

“What was there?” Alex asks, enthralled by the tale.

“Earth,” Morgan tells her.

“Wait… you mean you found Earth?” Alex asks, surprised and amazed by this revelation. “You actually rediscovered Earth?”

“Yes,” Shane tells her. “But something tells me Mr. Silver already knew it was there. Anyway, we found a strange crystal-rock tree on the planet, among other things, but that’s not really that important. We were trapped in that sector; we aimlessly flew through warp space for a long time and we nearly went crazy… That’s when Giratina found us.”

“Giratina?” Alex asks. “Who’s that?”

“It’s a Pokemon that lives in the Warp. It’s how we got back… And it’s where I got this,” Shane explains, holding up his right arm, the mark faintly glowing.

“Wow…” Alex gasps, her eyes wide with wonder. “So you have, like, super powers or something?”

“Something like that…”

“That’s so cool! What happened next?”

“You know the rest,” Shane tells her. “We met with Mr. Silver again to show him our findings and then he told us of the coming Genesect attack which, as you know, we helped to fight off.”

“So, why are we flying all over the Galaxy now?” Alex asks.

“Do you remember the the story we told you about Arlon Jett?”

“Mhm.”

“Well… he seems to think that Mr. Silver is involved in some sort of galactic conspiracy… or something. I wouldn’t be surprised. Since becoming the leader of the Red Suns, Arlon has been trying to uncover Mr. Silver’s operations. He’s the one who asked us to find Armstrong. And Mr. Silver is the reason Armstrong needs to stay on the ship.”

“I think I understand now,” Alex tells Shane and Morgan.

“You’re a part of our story now too,” Shane says to Alex. “And from what I understand, you need us to help you find the Mirror.”

“You mean you’re actually going to help me?” Alex asks.

“Sure,” Shane tells her. “You’re part of our crew now. We can go after it whenever you like.”

“How about now?” Alex asks.

“If that’s what you want,” Morgan tells her. “Just let Minerva know where to go.”

“Okay!” Alex exclaims, jumping up from the table. She hurries off to the bridge with a spring in her step, excited to finally be able to continue her search for her father.

* * *

With the _Helix_ now quiet, Morgan wanders around the ship for a bit, eventually ending up outside Shane’s workroom. Not wanting to be alone at the moment, she nervously knocks on the door, and Shane opens it.

“Hey Morgan. You need anything?”

Morgan is holding a small piece of electronic equipment, too small for Shane to immediately recognize, but it seems more as if she was fidgeting with it than actually working on it.

“What’s that?” Shane asks, pointing at the device in Morgan’s hand.

“This? I was, uh, working on the calibration for EHRB’s flame jet. The, um, the Pokeball cannon, you know, has a huge recoil, and…” She trails off. “I was wondering if I could, ah, sit in here.”

“No problem,” Shane tells her  as he retreats back into the room. The room is quite barren—apart from the standard comm system there is nothing inside save for a few empty pokeballs and the recently acquired warp drive, positioned at the center and in some state of disassembly. “As a matter of fact, I was just trying to figure out how to rig this thing to work when not attached to a ship. I could use someone to talk to.”

Morgan hesitantly enters. “I wouldn’t, um, really know anything about that…”

Morgan walks to the back of the room and sits against the far wall, where she has a full view of the room. She doesn’t seem too keen to approach a partially exposed warp drive.

As Shane continues to work, purple sparks of warp energy would occasionally float up from the drive, only to fizzle out after a few seconds. “There must be some sort of safety protocol that prevents it from staying active for extended periods of time when isolated.”

“That doesn’t... hurt?” Morgan gestures vaguely to Shane’s right side. The mark on his arm is glowing and pulsing slightly.

“It happens occasionally. I’ve more than gotten used to it by now.”

“That’s good.” She relaxes a bit, showing a hint of a smile. “I wanted to, um, thank you. For keeping our last conversation private.”

Shane looks up at Morgan and smiles a bit. “You’re welcome. You seemed like you needed someone to trust.”

Silence ensues, and Shane’s further attempts at fiddling with the warp drive yielded little more than sparks and smoke. “No, that doesn’t work either, apparently,” Shane mumbles to himself as he grows even more frustrated with the non-functioning machine.

“Do you even know how that thing works?” Morgan asks cautiously. “Maybe you should do some research first, come back to it later…”

“I’m fine,” Shane snaps back, noticeably tense. “I just wish this stupid thing would _work_ for once.”

“Have you tried unplugging it and plugging it back in?” she jokes somewhat nervously. She hardly knows anything about warp drives, but Shane seems to take her advice rather seriously.

Shane quickly looks over the device and its components, only to realize that he had neglected to connect it to any form of power to begin with. “That would do it,” he says with a sigh as he plugs it into the ship’s power grid. The warp drive flares with power, creating a small ball of warp within that bathes the room in a deep purple glow. A searing pain runs up Shane’s arm as his mark begins to glow almost as brightly, as if reacting to the sphere’s energy.

Morgan fails to suppress a laugh; she hadn’t seriously considered the possibility that it might be something so simple. She sits back, relaxed and unprepared. As her gaze meets the Warp, it hits her; the impact of the vision overwhelms her senses, and events unfold before her very eyes.

The cycle of Day and Night plays out on a cosmic scale. As Dusk falls upon the Galaxy, a machine flies through space with what appears to be a habitable planet in the distance. The strange machine tows pods full of both Humans and Pokemon towards its destination. 

A comet storm rains down, striking the machine and sending Morgan’s view spinning. She feels as if she’s being pulled away, the Galaxy spiraling out before her as the image fades away. An ominous sense of foreboding overcomes her.

Sparks begin to fly out of the Warp as it quickly grows unstable, likely due to the previous tampering done to the machine. Shane unplugs the warp drive and collapses, the mark slowly fading as the sphere of warp diminished and disappeared.

“I? What? Shane!” Morgan looks frantically back and forth, her senses snapping back to her. Still reeling from the shock, she sits upright. The room appears exactly as it was moments ago as if nothing had happened, yet mysterious images are now burned into her head. 

“I’m fine, I think. I’ll put this thing back into a more stable setup later, but right now…” Shane trails off as he tries to get up, wincing at the pain still emanating from the mark. He slumps back down. “I’m just gonna rest here a bit.”

Morgan feels dimly as though she should do something. She stumbles over to the room’s intercom and, still too distraught to care who hears, calls, “MARIA? MARIA, report to the warp lab.”

The medical bot arrives shortly thereafter, with H in tow, having only been in the next room, working on one of his many projects. “What’s going on? Why has MARIA been called?” he asks.

“The warp drive…” Shane begins. “It… interacted with the mark and…” He lifts his right arm slightly, the mark still glowing faintly and sparking off warp energy.

“Well I suppose you have as much right to fiddle with it as anyone,” H replies. “Go ahead.”

“Hey, what’s going on in here?” Alex asks as she bursts into the room, attracted by the commotion.

“I was messing around with the Warp…” Shane says faintly, lifting his arm to show the mark still sparking off energy.

“Does it hurt?” Alex asks, getting up close, staring at the shades of blue and purple pulsating along Shane’s arm and resisting the urge to poke it.

“Yeah… yeah, it does… yeah…”

“You’ve got to get ahold of that thing already,” H tells him. “Learn to control it. I’m learning to control what I can do, you need to learn to control what you can do, otherwise you can’t be a fit rival for me. You need to keep improving otherwise I’ll leave you behind and you’ll be worthless.”

“H, at least your issues make scientific sense,” Morgan snaps at him.

“Ah, but the Warp does make scientific sense,” H declares.

“Oh, really?” Shane asks sarcastically.

“Yes.”

“I’d like to see you try,” Morgan challenges H.

“I would if I didn’t have other things that are more important to discover. All I can do is wish you best of luck.”

“Honestly, if MARIA can’t find anything wrong I think the best thing would be for me to rest a bit,” says Shane, turning back to Morgan. “And hope that the pain goes away…”

“I never needed rest!” H interjects.

“Shut up H,” Shane tells him.

“Very well,” H replies before exiting the room, off to his lab once again.

MARIA begins administering pain medication and Shane feels the pain numb away. The sparks of energy still fly out from the mark, but he no longer feels the burning, freezing ache. He gets up and begins putting the warp drive back together.

* * *

Dmitri sits in his room, head in hands, contemplating his actions. With his consuming rage now subsided, he feels only somber remorse. He pulls out the Pokeball he took off the man he killed and stares at it, disgusted. He recalls this Sharpedo sinking its jaw full of serrated teeth into Maine, the image of the Metang’s flickering eyes still burning in his mind. He still hears the screams of the man, still sees the blood smear on the wall as the lifeless corpse slumps to the floor. While he has killed before in self-defense, this time it feels different. He could have let that man live, he could have walked away, but he didn’t. He chose to end this man’s life; he had acted with intention. Now, his acts burden him.

No longer able to bear the sight of this Pokeball, Dmitri gets up and exits the room. He wanders the ship, seeking out Morgan and Shane and eventually finding them in the warp lab. They look up as he enters, both giving him a cold glare.

Dmitri approaches, and lays the Pokeball and his energy sword on the floor. “I don’t want- I can’t look at them anymore,” he tells them. “Just… do with with them what you will.” He then turns and exits the room, leaving his crewmates to their business before they have a chance to say anything.

* * *

“Uh… what happened?” Alex asks Shane and Morgan, having seen the way they had looked at Dmitri, having seen the pained look on Dmitri’s face.

“That’s right… you were taking Armstrong to the ship…” says Shane, turning his gaze toward Alex. “One of the two trainers we were fighting killed one of Dmitri’s Pokemon… and Dmitri paid in kind.”

“You mean he killed a Pokemon?” Alex asks, her eyes wide with horror at the thought of such cruelty. One of the bad guys killing a Pokemon is bad enough to her, but one of her own traveling companions is even worse.

“Not exactly,” Morgan tells her. “It was… a little worse than that. He killed a man.”

“But it was the man who killed his Pokemon, right?” Alex asks.

“Yes,” Morgan replies. “But nobody deserves that…”

Alex says nothing, realizing that if she had lost one of her own Pokemon like that… she didn’t even want to think about what she might do… _No. That isn’t going to happen_ , she tells herself. She had already made the decision to train with her Pokemon, she swears she will be prepared for whatever challenge awaits.

Alex exits the warp lab and returns to her room to pour over the holoscroll Gilgamesh had given her. Ever since, she had spent her free time staring at it, but it always showed the same thing, always the planet where her father disappeared. There was hardly any information other than a map of the area around the temple located on the planet.

“Gah! Stupid thing! Why won’t you show anything useful!?” Alex cries out in frustration, casting the holoscroll away from her.

It flickers for a moment, the display changing, showing locations of other temples on other worlds.

“What?” Confused by the sudden change, Alex picks the scroll up again and examines it. “Why did that happen?”

“We’ve arrived,” Minerva’s voice sounds over the comms.

There is no more time to stare at the holoscroll. Alex knows she won’t find anymore information there. Her answers lie on the planet below. She stuffs the unhelpful device into her bag and rushes to the bridge.

Alex arrives on the bridge to find Morgan, Shane, and Dmitri already there. Looking out through the viewport, she sees the planet looming in the distance. The light of the system’s star is eclipsed by the jungle world as the _Helix_ draws near. The ship breaks through the atmosphere and soars above the faintly lit trees.

“I assume you want to land near the creepy pyramid?” Minerva asks.

“Yes,” Alex tells her. “That’s the Mirrored Temple.”

“Nearest clearing’s a few klicks out. Also seems to be a crashed ship further out,” Minerva says, nodding her head in the direction of a wrecked freighter lying amongst the trees. She flies the _Helix_ to the clearing and sets the ship down.

Alex rushes to the airlock, prepared to set out immediately. She reaches to open the door but Morgan grabs her arm. “Alex, it will be dark soon, we can’t go out there.”

“At the very least, not yet,” Shane adds, waking up behind them.

“But we need to go _now!_ ” Alex shouts.

“Do you want to get mauled by a wild Pokemon?” Morgan asks her. “We don’t know what’s out there in that jungle. We should wait until the morning.”

“But I’ve never been this close before!”

“If you go out there now, this might be as close as you ever get. I understand that this means a lot to you, but it can wait until morning. Let’s all try to get some rest.”

“ _Fiiiine_.”

* * *

Alex spends the next several hours eagerly awaiting the sunrise. She attempts to sleep but finds herself unable; she’s simply too wired up. She can’t believe she’s actually here, on the very planet where her father disappeared. There has to be something here, some clue or lead that will point her in the right direction. She’s so close now she can taste it.

“Stupid sun, just come up already,” Alex grumbles as she paces impatiently back and forth in her room. Despite the planet’s short rotational period, the minutes seem like hours, slowly crawling by. Suddenly a ray of light flits in through the viewport; a sliver of the rising sun.

She bolts out of the room, shouting as she runs down the hall. “The sun is up! Let’s go!” The others barely have a moment to rub the sleep from their eyes before Alex is off the ship, and headed into the jungle.

“Slow down!” Shane calls after her. “You’re gonna get yourself killed!” He teleports off the ship and runs after the girl. “Just stop for a minute.”

Alex slows down and waits for the others to catch up. Morgan and Dmitri eventually make their way into the jungle and meet up with Shane and Alex.

“Where’s H?” Shane asks as they begin to make their way deeper into the jungle.

“He’s discussing some things with Dr. Armstrong,” Morgan tells him. “He said to go check out the crashed ship while he finishes up. He’ll meet us at the temple.”

“Aww…” Alex moans. “I want to go there now.”

“It’s probably dangerous in the temple,” Morgan tells her. “It’s best to wait until we’re all together.”

The crew heads off in the direction of the crashed ship, pushing their way through the dense jungle. They eventually emerge in an area where the trees aren’t as thick and close together. They spot a Liepard circling a tree, eyeing a Natu perched on a branch several meters up. The Natu chirps angrily at the Liepard, clearly distressed by its presence.

“Oh no, it’s going to eat it!” Alex exclaims, reaching for a Pokeball and releasing her Houndoom. Morgan and Shane also release Pokemon of their own. The Liepard takes notice of them and growls angrily as they approach.

“Diablo, use Ember! Alex commands her Pokemon, pointing at the Liepard. The Houndoom runs forward and spits a lick of flames at the Liepard, drawing it away from the tree. The Natu, still perched in the tree, eyes the new Pokemon. It identifies Morgan’s Croconaw as a threat and shoots out a burst of energy toward it.

“R.A.G.E., use Dazzling Gleam,” Shane instructs his Clefable. The pink Pokemon  shoots a bright blast of light towards the Liepard, but the nimble cat dodges out of the way. It eyes R.A.G.E. angrily as it lands on its feet.

“Hector, use Ice Fang!” Morgan commands her Pokemon. The Croconaw runs up to the Liepard, his fangs coated over in ice. Hector clamps his jaws down, delivering a nasty blow. The Liepard growls angrily in response.“Now to catch it,” Morgan says to herself. She pulls out a Great Ball and chucks it at the Liepard. It connects and pulls the Pokemon inside. It shakes three times before falling still.

“Your turn, D.I.S.C.O.,” Shane says, switching out to his newly acquired Amaura, thinking it to be better suited to fighting the Natu.

“Hey, come down here!” Alex shouts at the Natu. “We’re not gonna hurt you.” The bird just flaps its wings and chirps. “Damn it… Diablo jump up and shoot an Ember at it!” The Houndoom run up and jumps up at the branch and shoots another burst of fire, striking the Natu and leaving it burned.

“D.I.S.C.O., use Thunder Wave,” Shane instructs his Pokemon. The Amaura sends out a little burst of electricity at the Natu, causing it to momentarily seize up. It looks very bothered and starts glowing, then it suddenly vanishes.

“No, come back!” Alex shouts. “I wanted to catch you!”

“It's not gone yet,” Shane tells her. He lifts his arm, his mark glowing for a moment and suddenly the Natu reappears on the branch. It looks around briefly with a very confused expressions. It starts flapping its wings and chirping angrily, attempting to fly away.

“Not so fast!” Alex shouts after it as she lobs a Great Ball at it. The ball strikes it in the air, pulling the Natu inside. “Yes!” Alex cries out in victory as the ball lands on the ground.

The crew recalls their Pokemon and they continue on toward the crashed ship. Reaching the wreckage, it’s obvious that this ship has been here a while, but due to the damage and rust it’s hard to say how long for sure. It could be anywhere from a few months to a couple of years. The area is covered with bits of scrap from the ruined freighter, but, interestingly, no bodies.

“Looks like the bodies got dragged away,” Shane says, pointing at drag marks leading away from from the crash site in multiple directions. They move on through the wreckage, checking out the rooms that remain intact.

“There’s not much here,” says Dmitri as they move through the wreckage.

“This is just a stupid wreck,” Alex mumbles. “It’s not even the one he came here on.”

“Hey, I found something!” Dmitri shouts out. The others run over and help Dmitri uncover a broken safe. Inside they find some potions, Pokeballs, a datapad containing some credits, and a bottle of alcohol. After splitting up the spoils, the crew decides to head for the temple as there doesn’t seem to be much else of value in the area.

As they walk along, the Mirrored Temple looming in the distance, they hear a rustling in the bushes. They look around and see a Snivy poke its head out of the bushes.

“Hey there little guy,” Alex says as she approaches it. She kneels down in front of it and reaches out to pet it. It retreats back into the bush, eyeing her suspiciously.

“Here,” Dmitri says to Alex, holding out a cabbage. “Feed it this.”

“You kept a cabbage from Vandia?” Alex asks. “Why?”

“Why not?” Dmitri asks in return, a stupid smirk on his face.

Alex grabs the cabbage out of Dmitri’s hand and breaks off a leaf, offering it to the Snivy. The Pokemon gobbles the leaf up and looks up at Alex expectantly. She offers it another leaf and it emerges from the brush. Alex reaches out her hand again and pets the Pokemon.

“Aww. You’re so cute,” Alex says to the Snivy. “Wanna come with me?” she asks, holding out a Great Ball. The Pokemon sniffs the ball and then gives it a lick, making a disgusted face. “You don’t eat it, silly,” Alex tells it. She presses the ball up against the side of the Snivy’s head. The ball sucks it in and falls still almost instantly. “Okay let’s go!” Alex shouts out, jumping to her feet. She leads the crew as they continue on toward the temple.

The trees break as they approach the temple, leaving only the cracked walkway and the neatly arranged trees in between. It almost feels as if some mysterious force has been keeping the jungle growth at bay. The late-day sunlight reflects off the temple; it almost seems as if the whole structure is shimmering. They find H waiting for them in front of massive stone and glass doors as the draw near the base of the temple.

“Shall we?” he asks them.

Shane walks up to the door and cautiously pushes it open. The door slowly swings away, allowing the light of the sun to slowly creep inside, dispelling the darkness in the entryway. The crew enters the temple, slowly moving toward the darkness contained within.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was a great start to the session. Alex has been fully accepted into the crew of the UAS Helix, and they have finally explained to her all the crazy stuff that they’ve been involved in! It was mildly annoying knowing all these things as a player but not actually knowing them as a character.
> 
> And then we had another Shmorgan scene! Thanks to Morgan and Shane’s players for pre-writing the scene to read to all of us, and for making my job easier. I copied and pasted it into the this chapter and then made some modifications to make it fit nicely into the narrative. And we got to see Morgan’s ominous vision! It’s all part of her developing clairvoyant abilities. What does it mean?
> 
> And we have made it to the Mirrored Temple! As a character, Alex was excited to finally find some answers, and as a player I was excited to move on from my character’s goals from the start of this volume to whatever followed from that. I think you will find what awaits in the temple to be quite interesting.


	42. Volume 2, Chapter 13: The Mirrored Temple

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Helix crew explores the ominous Mirrored Temple.

The light from the entryway begins to fade as the crew presses further into the temple and they soon find themselves surrounded in darkness. Alex feels an unsettled feeling creeping up on her with the darkness, a sense of foreboding unlike anything she has experienced before.

“Lumiera, we need you to light the way!” she calls out as she sends out her Lampent. The Pokemon makes a faint noise as she floats up above the crew, her ghostly flames lighting up the area and revealing patterns of reflective metal embedded in the stone. Lumiera’s ghostly blue light refracts off of eyeball designs on the walls and thin strips along the floor and ceiling, bouncing back and forth across the mirrored surfaces. The light constantly shifts as the crew progresses through the dark corridors, the patterns cast off by the eyeball designs slowly moving along the walls as if their gaze is following them.

“This place is creepy…” Alex says to no one in particular. Over the years, many ideas passed through her head about what the Mirrored Temple would be like, but she never imagined something like _this_. There is something deeply disturbing about the atmosphere here. She shakes her head, trying to dispel the thoughts from her mind. She needs to know what happened here, creepy or not.

Alex isn’t the only one troubled by the temple. Something just feels off about this place to Shane. He eyes the shifting light nervously as they push onwards. It almost feels as if that there is something here, watching their movements. H also feels disturbed; the eyes along the walls horrify him. He tries to avert his eyes but everywhere he looks another eye stares into him. He starts to lag behind the others.

Eventually they come to a few steps that lead up to a giant, circular chamber. A large, round stone slab sits in the center, with several rectangular slabs arranged around it, spreading out and away from the center.

“Uh… guys…” Shane says, his head tilted back, looking straight up. The chamber extends upwards into darkness, a tall circular shaft with the mirrored eye patterns arranged around the edges.

“I think we need to go up,” Alex suggests.

“Do we?” H asks.

“Well the holoscroll said the Mirror was at the top. We need to get up there.”

“Well there doesn’t appear to be anywhere to go from here,” Morgan points out. She’s right, the only way out of the room is the way they came in.

“We’ve got to be missing something…” Alex trails off. She looks up at the dark shaft and then back toward the stone slabs. She approaches one and takes a closer look. “I wonder,” she mumbles to herself. She starts pushing against it, throwing all her strength into it, and it starts sliding, moving around the center slab. Another slab on the opposite the chamber from her moves along with it. “I think we need to line them up!” she calls out to her companions.

“Which way?” Dmitri asks.

“Uh… with the door, maybe?” Alex suggests.

The crew starts pushing the slabs, aligning them in a straight line through the center from the door to the opposite wall. Nothing seems to happen.

“Well, that didn’t work,” Alex grumbles to herself.

“Hey, look, there are holes in the wall,” Morgan points out. A pair of square holes face each other on opposite ends of the chamber, perpendicular to the door. “What if we tried lining them up that way?”

“Good idea,” Shane agrees.

They all rearrange the slabs, lining them up with the holes. A low rumbling sounds as the slabs start sliding into the holes, followed by a thud as they lock into place. The center starts turning and the slabs shift in the holes, almost like a key. The whole room starts turning, the eye patterns sliding across the walls and sinking lower. The platform they stand on in moving up, constantly rotating as it ascends to the top of the temple.

Eventually, the platform grinds to a halt in another large chamber, this time at the top of the shaft. Lumiera’s light dances along the walls, reflecting off more eyeball designs and revealing a narrow tunnel-like corridor.

“I guess we’re going this way,” Shane says. He leads the crew forward to the corridor entrance. As they draw near, the pale light reveals a statue of grey-yellow stone standing on the far end of the corridor in front of what appears to be some sort of door.

They slowly approach the statue, passing by more eye patterns on the wall. Shane gets the strange feeling that the eyes are following them as they move down the corridor. He shakes the thought out of his head, telling himself that it’s just a trick of the light.

Reaching the statue, it appears to be a large rounded likeness of a man or some sort of humanoid Pokemon but it’s hard to say for sure. It has many details carved into it and a gold plate on the facial area. It appears almost as if it were a casing containing something within.

Alex walks up to it and reaches out, brushing the tips of her fingers against the cold stone. A sharp chill runs up her arm and down her spine. _Get out!_  The thought echoes in her head. _Get out of here!_ She slowly backs away, a terrified look on her face. She backs up past her companions and finds herself in the middle of the corridor, the eyes staring at her from all directions. All she wants to do is turn and run, but she finds herself frozen in fear.

“Alex…?” Morgan asks, a worried tone in her voice.

The girl says nothing.

Dmitri steps forward and touches the statue. To him, something definitely feels off about this statue; as if something ghostly is contained within. He reaches up and touches the gold face panel. As his hand makes contact, the eyes start glowing a menacing shade of red. He twists the panel and the front of the statue starts to slide open like a coffin. Darkness starts to creep out of the statue, like small little tendrils. 

Some of the eyes start moving off of the walls, surround those standing back from the statue, their gaze creeping ever closer.

“No! Stop!” Alex cries out. “Make it stop!” She feels paralyzed as an eye draws nearer to her. It zeroes in, right in front of her face. She feels the cold mirrored surface touch against her trembling face; it is too much to bear.

Alex’s scream echoes down the narrow corridor, splitting the eerie silence, only to be overpowered by the terrified roar of H’s voice. The cyborg bolts out of the corridor as fast as he can, back toward the open chamber. “We are breaking through this wall!” he shouts as he releases his Rhyhorn. The two start wailing on the thick stone wall, trying to smash through.

One of the eyes starts slowly following him back to the chamber while the other two focus in on Morgan and Alex. Shane quickly sends out his Inkay and then vanishes from the room. 

As he moves through warp space Shane can see darkness radiating out from the three eyes and the statue, like they are feeding off the very Warp itself. He pulls himself back into real space and strikes the statue with his Phantom Force, phasing his hand through the stone to damage the inside. His mark starts glowing black and he feels it go numb. He pulls back reflexively, the darkness resisting for a moment.

Alex snaps out of her frozen state, her fight or flight response kicking in. “Lumiera, use Shadow Ball!” she shouts out. The Lampent fires a ball of dark energy at the eye looming in front of her trainer. The eye vanishes suddenly, just before the attack strikes, and the ball slams into the wall.

The thing reappears by H. Now two eyes stare into him. He turns around the see the creatures behind him, two large black Pokemon: Sigilyph. “No! No! No! No! No!” H screams as he recalls his Pokemon, completely terrified by the sight before him. He runs back toward the corridor, trying to get as far away from the Sigilyphs as possible.

The eyes of the statue-coffin start glowing and the tendrils of darkness form into four ghostly hands as it reveals itself. A terrifying ghostly face emanates out from the Cofagrigus, locking on to Lumiera. The Lampent shudders momentarily but remains focused on the battle.

“Hector, use Ice Fang!” Morgan commands as she releases her Croconaw. The reptilian Pokemon lunges forward, teeth coated in ice, and takes a nasty bite out of the Sigilyph lurking in the darkness.

Shane attempts to jump back into warp space for another attack but finds himself unable. He stares as his blackened mark in fear, quite disturbed by his inability to use his power. He retreats off into a corner to keep out of range of the assailants.

“Lumiera, use Will-O-Wisp!” Alex shouts, pointing at the Cofagrigus. A small ball of ghost flame flies out from the Lampent and circles around the Cofigrigus before phasing through the outer shell, burning it on the inside.

“Wilhelm, Shadow Ball!” Dmitri commands as he releases his Haunter, directing it toward the Cofagrigus. A ball of shadowy energy builds up in the Pokemon’s hands as he charges his attack. He lobs it at the Cofagrigus and it connects with it’s face, dealing a nasty blow.

The coffin shell opens fully as hundreds of ghost hands come flying out! A blast of psychic energy gushes out from the open coffin and tears Wilhelm’s ghostly form to pieces. Dmitri recalls his fainted Pokemon as he starts to form back together.

The three Sigilyphs begin glowing, almost as if they are building up for a massive attack. They begin to move back toward the crew, attempting to close in around them.

“D.E.R.P., use Hypnosis!” Shane commands his Inkay. The squid’s eyes start glowing in an attempt to put the Cofagrigus to sleep but he fails to do anything.

“Hector, use Ice Fang again!” Morgan instructs her Pokemon. The Croconaw leaps up and to take another bite out of the Sigilyph he attacked before. This time it teleports away, reappearing in a line with the other two.

Shane pulls out an Ultra Ball and throws it out from his corner at the Cofagrigus. It bounces off the coffin shell, then pulls the ghostly creature in and falls to the floor. It starts shaking violently, but eventually settles down, the capture successful.

One of the Sigilyphs moves up, its eye glowing as it locks on to D.E.R.P., and releases its stored up power. A wave of psychic energy appears around the Inkay and crushes him, killing him almost instantly. “No!” Shane yells out as he sees his Pokemon fall, an enraged look in his eyes. He throws out another Pokeball and his Rotom pops out.

“Hector, use Ice Fang!” Morgan commands her Pokemon. The Croconaw runs up and takes another bite out of the Sigilyph he had attacked previously, the one that had just killed D.E.R.P.

“Go, Ness! Dark Pulse!” Dmitri shouts as he releases his Gyarados. The Pokemon roars as he emerges from his ball and fires a wave of dark energy at the Sigilyph but it floats out of the way.

H runs to the door. With the Cofagrigus out of the way, he begins trying to figure out how to open it. It’s sealed tight by some sort of locking mechanism. In his panicked state he can’t really figure out how it works.

“Lumiera, use Shadow Ball!” Alex commands her Lampent. The ghostly lamp builds up another ball of energy and fires it at the Sigilyph in the front. It hits dead on and deals a pretty hefty blow. The creature doesn’t show any signs of being bothered by the attack.

“B.O.L.T., use Thunder Wave!” Shane instructs his Pokemon. The Rotom shoots out a wave of electricity at the Sigilyph. As the attack connects, sparks shoot along the creature’s body, immobilizing it.

Dmitri pulls out a Great Ball and throws it at the Sigilyph. The weakened creature is pulled inside the ball, which then falls still on the ground. “Ness, now Bite one of the others,” he commands his Pokemon. The Gyarados lunges forward to attack one of the other Sigilyph, but in the tight quarters of the corridor he is unable to land a hit.

“Hector, keep using Ice Fang!” Morgan yells out. Her Croconaw runs up to another Sigilyph and attempts to land another attack. However, the Sigilyph floats up and out of the way of its attacker.

Shane recalls his Rotom, then runs to the door. H is wildly banging on it trying to bash it down. “Get out of the way!” Shane shouts at him. “You’re not doing anything!” He shoves the panicked cyborg out of the way and examines the door. He notices two handprint designs on it and presses his hands against them. The designs start glowing faintly, and the door appears to start unlocking.

“Lumiera, use Will-O-Wisp!” Alex commands her Lampent. The Pokemon sends out another ghostly flame, this time at one of the Sigilyphs. The ball of fire burns the creature, but it doesn’t appear to be bothered. It moves forward and sends out a wave of psychic energy at Morgan’s Croconaw. The energy wraps around the Pokemon and crushes the life out of him.

The other one moves up as well and locks on to Lumiera. It attempts to unleash its own wave of of psychic energy at the Lampent, but it fails; the power does not quite materialize. Then, Dmitri raises his hand, directing the energy back at the Sigilyph. The power builds up inside the Pokemon until it explodes!

“Ness, Bite the last one!” Dmitri commands his Gyarados. The Pokemon sinks his teeth into the sole remaining Sigilyph and deals a pretty nasty wound. 

“Now, finish it off with Hex!” Alex orders her Lampent. Lumiera’s eyes flash, the ghostly lamp focusing in on the Sigilyph. Dark energy closes in around it, amplified by the burn inflicted upon the creature, and saps away the last of its energy.

* * *

With the fight won, the others recall their Pokemon, leaving Alex’s Lampent as the only Pokemon remaining, her light still illuminating the area. Shane kneels down by his fallen Inkay, mourning the Pokemon’s death. Dmitri walks up to him and holds out the ball containing the Sigilyph he caught. “Here comrade,” he says to Shane. “You need this more than I do.”

“Thanks,” Shane replies quietly. He reaches up and takes the ball out of Dmitri’s hand. He looks at it momentarily before placing it with his other Pokemon. He gets up and follows Dmitri, H, and Alex through the newly opened door.

The door leads to a massive chamber, the chilling nighttime air flowing in through open windows high on the towering walls. In the center of the chamber rises a large metal gyroscope housing a giant shimmering mirror. Alex stands before it in awe; at long last she has found it.

H immediately runs past, and attempts to climb the wall, to escape the temple through the windows, terrified by what he had experienced within. Dmitri, however, walks up to the Mirror and reaches out to touch it.

“Wait, don’t do that!” Alex shouts, “It might be dangerous!” In her heart she had always considered the possibility that the Mirror was the cause of her father’s disappearance. Perhaps it had trapped him in an alternate dimension or something of the like. The terrifying things she had seen within the temple only served to strengthen the fear that it might be true.

However, her warning comes too late for Dmitri. He places his hand upon the Mirror and a chill runs up his arm. He tries to pull away but finds that he cannot remove his hand. Dmitri locks eyes with his reflection and he feels as if it is staring back, watching with a menacing look in its eyes. He starts to hear voices faintly whispering inside his head.

Shane also feels himself drawn toward the Mirror. As he approaches, he sees his reflection gradually change, the expression on its face becomes menacing and the mark starts glowing a virulent shade of green. The hand reaches out as if to grab him, and Shane suddenly realize that he had been subconsciously reaching for the Mirror himself, but he is too mesmerized to try to stop it.

He continues to gaze into the Mirror and sees the reflection place its hand on his own shoulder. He feels it grip him, trying to pull him. Shane turns around to see Alex pulling on his shoulder, trying to keep him from touching the Mirror. “C’mon!” she shouts at him. “Help me get him away from it!” Shane snaps out of his mesmerized state and follows Alex over to Dmitri, together they are able to pry the man away from the Mirror.

The whispers in Dmitri’s head stop as Alex and Shane pull him back from the Mirror, removing his hand from its cold surface. He looks at the palm of his hand and shakes his head in confusion, unsure of what had just happened.

“Are you alright?” Alex asks.

“I don’t know…” Dmitri trails off. He doesn’t understand what had happened. There were voices inside his head, but they are gone now. “I think so.”

Shane looks around and notices H is missing. He glances upwards and sees the cyborg attempting to climb up to the windows, several stories up. “H, get the hell down here!” he shouts at him. “You’re gonna get yourself killed!”

“No! I need to get out of here!” H shouts back at Shane. “I’m not going back in that place!”

“They’re gone!”

“I don’t care! There will be more! You saw how many eyes were on the walls!”

Alex feels herself drawn to the Mirror. The only thought burning in her mind is to stay away from it, but she feels herself slowly walking toward it, as if someone else is controlling her. All she sees is herself reflected in the smooth metal, her new companions nowhere to be seen. She feels as if she is completely alone in the Galaxy, a feeling of total isolation that she had not felt in many years.

Alex feels her hand pulled toward the Mirror and, as her fingertips brush against the Mirror’s surface, her own reflection vanishes. Her heart pounds inside her chest as the image of her father appears before her. And then he’s gone; Shane pulls Alex away from the Mirror. The room spins around her as she falls to her knees; a single tear rolls down her cheek.

After making sure that Alex is okay, Shen pulls himself into warp space to get a better look the Mirror. He sees several lines spreading out from it, extending out in different directions. One, in particular, catches his eye' it’s thicker and darker looking than the others. He pops back into real space and looks at the mirror once more. He grabs hold of the gyroscope frame and starts to reposition it, aiming it in the direction of the dark line.

“What are you doing?” Dmitri asks him.

“It’s kind of hard to explain,” Shane tells him. “When I was in warp space I saw lines going out from this Mirror to other points somewhere else in the Galaxy. I’m lining it up with the largest one to see what happens. Alex do you have that holoscroll on you?”

Alex says nothing and continues to stare at the floor.

“Hey Alex,” Shane says, walking up to her and resting his hand on her shoulder.

“Huh, what?” she asks, snapping out of her dazed state.

“Can I see the holoscroll?” Shane asks again. Alex pulls it out of her bag and opens it up. It displays only a single line of script.

**_Gaze Unto The Mirror And Become Empty_ **

Shane is distracted from the holoscroll when he looks up and sees H about to dive out the window. He quickly uses his power to switch places with H, the effects of the Cofagrigus having worn off. He finds himself teetering on the edge and hurriedly warps himself back down to where the others are.

H now finds himself looking into the Mirror and sees floating eyes swirling around inside it. It terrifies him but he cannot look away; he feels drawn to it. He walks closer, and, as he approaches, his own reflection appears before him, but his augmentations are missing. As he continues forward, pieces of his reflection are slowly replaced with bits of metal, strange augmentations he has never seen before. He takes a step back to see if they fall off, but they stay. He walks forward again and more pieces of twisted metal replace his body. Backward again. The augmentations remain.

Soon his entire reflection is coated in metal and with each step back and forward a copy of himself appears behind him. This continues until there is quite a sizable number of copies standing behind him. He stares, fascinated by the sight before him. At first he had reasoned that the Mirror was showing him the past, but perhaps now it shows a potential future. One by one the copies begin to morph; augmentations appear that he could never even begin to imagine. They seem terrifying.

H remains the only one unchanged. The others surround him with a menacing look in their eyes. One pulls out a knife and drives it into his back, sending the cyborg into augmentation shock. A sense of dread overcomes him as he falls to the ground.

In its new position, the Mirror starts to glow a bit darker in color. This catches Dmitri’s eye and he approaches it once more and places both hands upon it. The whispers from before start becoming clearer and Dmitri realizes that he is hearing his own thoughts. His Metang appears before him, then the guy he murdered, then, slowly, everyone he has ever known, one at a time. They seem to surround him, staring, softly saying one word over and over: “Why?” He pulls his hands away and begins to back away. As he gets further from the Mirror, the voices stop and the images fade away.

Morgan eventually joins the others in the Mirror chamber and sees the others gathered around the Mirror. To her, it seems completely covered in black. She walks up to it and slowly the image changes. The blackness fades away, leaving a dirty coating over its surface. She can see her reflection behind the dirt and lurking behind her is _the face_. The haunting face that she first saw on the Trevenant, the face she saw on the Cofagrigus. She shakes her head, trying to dispel the feeling of dread. Morgan glances at the Mirror once more and its surface has become totally black once again.

Shane holds the holoscroll up towards the Mirror, and it begins displaying several temple locations across the stars, with lines linking from the present site to others. “Here. This is where the large line I saw pointed,” he says. The scroll zooms in as he points to it, showing more details about its location. The temple in question appears to be somewhere in the core of the Galaxy. “I don’t think we’re going to find anything else here,” Shane continues. “I think it would be best if we left now.”

“Agreed,” says Morgan.

Without any hesitation, the two exit the mirror chamber and return to the platform that brought them up. H remains in augmentation shock; he’s still conscious but his cybernetic parts have not yet come back online. Dmitri helps him up and leans him on his shoulder so that he can move him to the platform with the others. Alex lags behind, taking one last glance at the Mirror before following the others out of the chamber.

Moving the slabs again causes the platform to lower once more. The eyes still appear to follow them as they return to the temple entrance, but this time it really is just a trick of the light.

* * *

The crisp night air blows through the trees as the crew makes their way back to the _Helix_. The jungle is calm for now, but they all remain tense after their ordeal in the Mirrored Temple. As the crew continues, they hear a faint rustling sound, as if something is moving along with them in the brush.

Morgan stops and looks around, listening. Seeing her pause, the others also stay still. The rustling seems to have stopped. “I think we’re being followed by something,” she says to her companions. After several minutes of silence, they continue walking. The rustling starts up again, this time faster. Something is definitely following them.

Alex breaks into a run. After what she went through in the temple, she’s completely terrified. The only thought in her mind is to get back to the ship. In her fear, she trips over a large tree root and slams into the ground. She can hear the sound of human footsteps surrounding them.

“Hey!” Morgan calls out to their pursuers. “Who are you!?”

“Agh!” a voice screams in the trees. “They’re from the temple! _Aaaaagh!_ ”

A group of ragged looking men run out of the brush, charging after the crew. Morgan reaches for a Pokeball and releases her Espeon. Dmitri drops H and does the same, sending out his Scyther. The men sprint closer, and the crew can see a crazed but empty looks in their eyes: afraid and angry. Morgan gets the same feeling she felt when the _Helix_ was attacked on the way to Vandia.

The men charge forward at the crew, ignoring the Pokemon. One lunges straight for Dmitri.

“Gigan!” Dmitri shouts at his Scyther. The Pokemon intercepts and slices the man’s arms clean off. The crazed man continues to charge at Dmitri, ignoring his missing limbs. Dmitri throws his hands up to keep him at bay.

“Yvonne, attack!” Morgan commands her Espeon. The Pokemon swiftly runs up and  bites one of the men’s ankle, but the man ignores her and continues to charge.

“B.O.L.T! Thunder Wave!” Shane commands, sending out his Rotom. The Pokemon shoots a wave of electricity at another of the men and causes him to fall to the ground, seizing up and twitching. Shane then teleports behind another of the men and knocks him to the ground.

“Anubis!” Alex shouts as she picks herself back up, releasing her Lucario. “Get him!” The Pokemon runs forward and punches one of the men still standing and knocks him old cold. Morgan blasts the last one with her mind and knocks him down. The man screams in pain as he collapses to the floor.

With the men taken down, Alex takes off running again toward the ship. Dmitri and Shane follow close behind, but Morgan stays behind with H, who is only just starting to come back around, his augmentations coming back online.

“We can’t leave them here," Morgan says to him. “Use your Rhyhorn to get as many back to the ship as we can.”

“Give me one reason why I should!” H shouts at her.

“Because these people obviously need help.”

“Fine. I guess you did help me at the University, so I will help you with this.”

Together they collect a couple of the crazed men that have been incapacitated and load them up on #1, then start heading back to the ship.

* * *

Shane, Dmitri, and Alex arrive back at the _Helix_ and quickly get aboard the ship. Alex immediately runs off to hide away in her room, completely shaken up by the events of the day.

“You know, I’m not even gonna ask. I don’t want to know,” Minerva says as she looks over at Shane and Dmitri and sees the looks on their faces.

Morgan and H return shortly afterward bring the crazed men with them.

“Are you sure you want to bring them _on the ship?_ ” Shane asks, very confused as to why Morgan had brought the men with her.

“They need help,” she tells him.

“What about the part where they tried to kill us?”

“What if they were just scared? Maybe we can help them.”

Shane attempts to say something to the effect of “no, they’re not coming on this ship,” but before he can say anything Morgan gives him a look, the same look she gave him after the incident with the Romanov Supremacy, when she attacked one of their ships with the warp gate. “Fine,” Shane tells her. “Just keep them locked up.”

“Now I _really_ don’t want to know,” Minerva quips.

“Just… get us out of here,” Shane tells her.

“You don’t have to tell me twice,” she replies. She fires up the engines and flies away from the planet, back into the calm safety of space.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well that was a dark session… Not one, but two Pokemon deaths! And damn… that Mirrored Temple… That was just creepy as fuck. Those Sigilyphs, man! Comic Power/Calm Mind + Stored Power = Murder. It’s not hard to see why H, the man with no fear, is terrified out of his mind by Sigilyphs. Apparently that’s one of his only fears. And don’t even get me started on the party’s crappy roles… We had two crit fails in a row!
> 
> So, RIP D.E.R.P. and Hector, you shall be missed. At the end of the session, H’s player actually told us that he could have picked up a feat that lets him prevent Pokemon from dying about six levels ago and didn’t take it. I think a few players may be a bit annoyed with him, especially since he’s the only player to have not lost a Pokemon yet!
> 
> The Mirror was… not exactly what I was expecting. It was so evil, and I knew that it was going to have some major effects on Alex’s character development. This session left me really excited to see what happened next, and I felt like there were a lot of cool and interesting places I could take her character from here. It also seemed like there was something even darker lurking in the galactic core.
> 
> So yeah, zombie people! Or something. I picked up on it pretty quickly that these guys were very similar to the people that attacked the Helix at the beginning of the volume. Even though Alex didn't know about that attack yet, as a player I now knew that it was somehow connected to the Mirror. Very ominous indeed.


	43. Volume 2, Chapter 14: Battle for the Belt!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Helix crew battles for the championship belt at the Fighting Gym!

All is quiet aboard the _UAS Helix_ , but it is not peaceful. Drained by their interactions with the Mirror, the exhausted crew members each go to their respective territories to recuperate. Morgan and H attempt to get some work done, while the rest drift off to sleep.

While no one manages a truly pleasant rest, Dmitri in particular is tormented by strange dreams as he tosses and turns in bed.

* * *

Shane awakens in the warp lab in a state of confusion. Normally having little need for sleep, he is unsure what to make of this, but reasons that his encounter with the Mirror may have something to do with it. He exits the lab and makes his way to the bridge, hoping to talk to Minerva to clear his head. He arrives just in time to see an incoming call from Arlon Jett. He plops himself down in the co-pilot seat and answers the call.

“Hey Arlon,” says Shane as the Red Suns leader’s face appears on the screen.

“Hello there, mate,” Arlon replies, a serious but friendly expression on his face.

“What’s up?” Shane asks.

“I need your help again,” Arlon tells him.

“What is it this time?”

“I’ve got a major lead on Mr. Silver. I have come across reports of a powerful cyber weapon developed by a group of Genevan scientists. According to my intel, this weapon will be aboard the _GCS Halcyon_ during the Galactic Governance Conference, and that someone is planning to activate it. We don’t know who they are or who the target is, only that the weapon will definitely be present.”

“And what does this have to do with Mr. Silver?” Shane asks. “What kind of weapon is it?”

“I don’t know for sure,” Arlon explains. “All I know is that if we can get our hands on it, we can hack Mr. Silver’s entire network. We can find out who he is and what he’s trying to accomplish. This is a vital operation and the Red Suns can’t do it alone.”

“Count us in,” Shane tells him.

“Great. I knew I could count on you. The conference doesn’t begin until a month from now, but we need to begin preparations right away. The first order of business is finding a way onto the ship. Once the ship leaves port, its route will be classified for the duration of the conference, so we need to act fast. I’ve got an in for my team and I already, but you lot will need to find a way to acquire invitations to the conference for yourselves or some other means of getting aboard.”

“Alright,” Shane replies. “We’ll figure something out. I’m gonna go talk to the rest of the crew about this. If you don’t hear from us, assume that we’ll be there to help you out.”

“Cheers mate,” Arlon tells him. “We’ll be in touch.”

“Indeed we will.”

* * *

After hanging up with Arlon, Shane calls the crew to the bridge to explain the situation, but only Morgan and Dmitri show up. When it becomes apparent that no one else is coming, Shane informs them of Arlon’s call.

“It’s great that we got a call from Arlon,” Morgan says after hearing what Shane has to say. “But we have a lot of things to take care of before we can consider helping him out with this. The people we found on that planet… they need help. We need to get them some kind of medical attention.”

“The conference isn’t for another month, so we should have plenty of time to take care of that,” Shane tells her. “If you want to get those people medical help, and _off this ship_ as soon as possible, then we’re in agreement.”

“Okay,” says Morgan. “We should head to the nearest civilized system and get them to a hospital. Minerva, plot a course.”

“Alright,” Minerva says as she quickly sets a course and takes the ship into warp space. “It’ll take a while to get there so, if you don’t mind, I’m gonna see if there’s anything good on.” She leans back and brings the television up on the viewscreen and nods toward the door, indicating to the rest of the crew to get off the bridge.

“Where’s Alex?” Morgan asks Shane as they depart from the bridge. It had been several hours since she had seen the girl around the ship, which was quite unusual and a bit worrying to Morgan. H, on the other hand, had evidently locked himself in his lab yet again, and they did not particularly care enough to investigate.

“You know, I’m not really sure,” Shane tells her.

“I think we should go check on her,” Morgan replies.

“That’s probably a good idea,” Shane agrees. The two make their way to the ship’s living quarters and Morgan knocks on Alex’s door.

There is no response. She knocks on the door again and calls out, “Alex?” Still nothing. The door doesn’t appear to be locked so she opens it and walks into the room. She sees Alex curled up on her bed, her hands up by her face, blocking it from view.

“Alex, are you okay?” Shane asks, walking into the room behind Morgan. Morgan shoots him a glare, silently warning him to tread lightly.

“It’s all my fault…” Alex says after a long pause. Her voice cracks and it sounds as if she had been crying.

Morgan walks up to the bed and places a hand on Alex’s shoulder in an attempt to comfort her. “What’s all your fault?” she asks.

“It’s my fault your Pokemon died.”

“No, it’s not,” Shane tells her.

“We were only there because of me… I was the reason we were there, I was the reason they died. I put everyone in danger chasing my stupid dream.”

“We wanted to be there too,” Morgan tells her. “Otherwise we wouldn’t have gone.”

“But if I hadn’t snuck onto your ship, they would still be alive…”

“Even before you boarded our ship, we had dangerous experiences and some of our Pokemon have died,” Shane tells her. “It’s a horrible thing, but it happens sometimes. You being on the ship didn’t change that.”

“You mean my Pokemon might die too?” Alex asks frantically.

“Well, they’re just Pokemon,” Morgan tells her.

“No! They’re _not_ just Pokemon!” Alex cries out. “They’re my friends! They’re my family! They’re all I have left…”

“But you’re traveling with us now,” Shane says. “That means we’re kind of like your family. And we have to stick together.”

“But you’re just gonna leave me like everybody else.”

“No, we wouldn’t do that,” Morgan tells her. “Why would you think that?”

“You tried to do it before… Everyone always does…”

“Well, to be fair, you weren’t a part of the crew yet,” Morgan tells her.

“And now you are,” Shane chimes in. “And we’re not gonna give up on you.”

Alex throws her arms around Morgan and pulls her into a hug as mixed tears of joy and sadness fall from her eyes. Morgan awkwardly returns the hug and pats her on the back. “Okay, so things are good now?” she asks.

“I don’t know…” Alex responds.

“Alright, well we’ll probably be on our way soon, so just come out when you’re ready.”

“Okay…” Alex says, loosening her grip and allowing Morgan to go.

Morgan and Shane leave the room, allowing Alex to compose herself.

* * *

Back on the bridge, Dmitri sits in the co-pilot seat, watching Minerva flip through channel after channel. She passes by several news broadcasts, cooking shows, and cheesy soap operas until finally settling on a station.

“We now return to Jonny Bohn’s Catch of the Day!” A spirited explorer is climbing up a tall forest tree. “Now, Skiploom drifts in the air to get closer to the sun, so we’ll need a nice vantage point if we want to reach it!” he says to the camera.

Once he spots a Skiploom, he sends out a Scyther and has it use False Swipe. He then tosses a Pokeball, which hits the Pokemon and falls into his open hand. It shakes… again… _and_ … it’s caught!

“And there you have it! Join me again for tomorrow’s Catch of the Day as I brave the jungles of Nivitu!”

The program ends, and a new show comes on the air.

“Welcome to Siogern VI, where the roughest, toughest trainers in the Outer Rim come to RUMBLE!” A lineup of teams enters an arena before a cheering crowd. “These competitive combatants are here today to test their mettle and pit themselves against the Fearsome Fighting Gym Leader himself, Jerome MacJabber! But will they take home the prize?”

As he watches the Pokemon battle showdown, Dmitri considers the possibility of challenging this gym to earn some much needed credits.

* * *

Before they arrive in a civilized system, Morgan wants to see if there’s anything else she can do for the people they rescued. On her way to the Medbay, she passes Dmitri on the bridge, who agrees to accompany her as she attempts to wake one of the men up. Despite her reassurances to the rest of the crew, she still doesn’t feel safe to be alone with them.

The men are lying on beds in the Medbay, fastened with five-point restraints, although they still twitch fitfully in anesthesia-induced sleep. MARIA’s initial assessment had revealed nothing out of the ordinary aside from severe dehydration and malnutrition; further scans showed some sort of neurological abnormality, though neither MARIA nor Morgan knew what to make of that.

As Morgan oversees MARIA administering drugs to one of the men to counteract the anesthesia, Dmitri focuses on reading the man’s mind. His own thoughts are immediately overwhelmed with the sensation of nightmares, awful dreams that seem somehow both incoherent and familiar. Morgan calls to him, wanting to make sure he is ready for whatever happens when the man wakes up.

“Dmitri?” she asks.

He does not respond.

She turns around, surprised. “Dmitri?”

Again, Dmitri seems not to register her words.

Worry begins to snake its way around Morgan’s heart. She approaches Dmitri and taps him gently on the shoulder. He seems to respond, and her fear falls away, quickly replaced by annoyance.

“Are you going to back me up, or not?”

“Huh? Back you up with what?” Dmitri still seems a bit disoriented.

“He’s about to wake up!” Morgan huffs. “And I don’t know what’s going to happen, so I need you to be ready in case something happens!” With a sigh, she returns to MARIA at the man’s bedside.

The man is awake now, and he struggles more actively against the restraints. His frail body is no match for the cuffs, however. He grunts with each tug and doesn’t appear to notice Morgan standing above him. Gently, she touches his shoulder. He looks at her intently, pupils dilating. He continues moaning and struggling.

“It’s alright,” she says. “What’s your name? Do you remember?”

“M… Make it stop! Make it stop!” he cries. At least, that’s all Morgan manages to make out. Everything else sounds like gibberish. The man begins to thrash his head around, apparently trying to bite her. She quickly pulls back.

“Make what stop? You have to concentrate and tell us; otherwise we can’t help you,” she says.

Suddenly, he freezes. His pupils rapidly constrict as he stares at a point far beyond her head. Morgan glances worriedly at MARIA. The robot hasn’t yet made a move to interfere, so she turns her attention back to the man.

Just as abruptly as he had stopped, he is moving once again, pulling ever more frantically at the restraints. “I’m trying!” he screams. “Please, I’m trying! I’ll do it! I’ll do anything! Just please, make it stop!” They get the sense that he isn’t speaking to them.

Realizing that this is going nowhere, Morgan motions to MARIA, who approaches the man and sedates him again. He falls back into a restless sleep. Morgan steps away, shaking her head; she is disappointed, but not surprised. She leaves the Medbay with a heavy heart, and Dmitri soon follows. He can’t shake the feeling that the thoughts he gleaned from that man’s mind seem _very_ familiar.

* * *

The _Helix_ drops out of warp space and approaches the planet Harali, one of the more developed planets in this corner of Sinai space. It is a forest world with many lush and diverse woodlands spanning the lands between the large cities. Minerva docks in the ship in a spaceport in one of these cities and Morgan, Shane, and Dmitri travel to the nearest hospital.

At the hospital, Morgan arranges for an ambulance to pick up the people they rescued outside the Mirrored Temple and bring them back for treatment. Soon after they return to the ship, the paramedics retrieve the _Helix_ ’s extra passengers and quickly whisk them off to the hospital. While she is unsure if the treatment will be successful, she tells herself there was nothing more she could have done.

The crew then assembles on the bridge to plan out their next move. Having pulled herself back together, Alex joins them as Dmitri proposes going to Siogern VI to challenge the gym there.

As he mentions this, Minerva looks at him with a grin and says, “You missed the championship match.”

“How did it go?” Dmitri asks her.

“The house won,” she tells him, still grinning. “I look forward to see you try to beat him.”

“You sure we can do this?” Shane asks Dmitri.

“We really need the money, so it can’t hurt to try. Even if we don’t win, we can make some money by betting on the matches.”

“I think we can do it!’ Alex says enthusiastically.

“Alright,” says Shane. “Minerva, set a course.”

“Your funeral, kid.”

* * *

The _Helix_ arrives back in the Outer Rim and approaches the sixth moon of Siogern, home to the Fighting Gym. The massive red gas giant looms in the distance, its beautiful crimson gases swirling in a mesmerizing pattern.

“Is the gym on that space station there?” Shane asks, seeing Siogern VI approaching.

“That’s no space station,” Minerva tells him. “It’s a small moon.” The moon has so many installations and structures built into it that, from a distance, it appears to be a space station of some sort.

Minerva docks the ship with the moon and the crew sets out to challenge the gym. As they approach the registration table, they see many tough looking Outer Rim scoundrels and roughnecks lining up to challenge the gym themselves. When they get to the table, the man in charge of signing up challengers sizes them up. His left eyebrow raises as his eyes fall on the short and scrawny teenage girl that is Alex. “You sure about this?” he asks.

“Yes,” says Dmitri, flashing his four gym badges. The man’s other eyebrow raises upon seeing the badges. “Okay then. Good luck. You’re gonna need it. I’ll sign you up as Team Five, unless you want to pick a different name.”

“We’ll be team Helix!” Alex shouts out.

“Alright, Team Helix it is. You’re scheduled for the third fight; be on the stage in twenty minutes. Go in mean, but keep it clean.”

As they step out into the stands, the crew sees a rowdy crowd cheering as trainers walk into the arena and release their Pokemon, preparing to duke it out. Taunts and angry shouts can be heard amongst the homogenous sounds of the fans.

“Bets! Bets! Place your bets!” a man shouts from the betting table as people walk by. “Two teams enter the arena, one team leaves! Who’s it gonna be!? Place your bets!”

The crew looks up at the stage and Dmitri and Morgan recognize one of the trainers. He had fought against them with his powerful Nidoking in a friendly battle several months ago on the Federation world of Otho. The Nidoking stands in the arena, teamed up with a Hitmonlee and a Medicham against a Graveler, a Hitmontop, and a Pidgeotto. Remembering the tough fight on Otho, Dmitri places a one-hundred credit bet on the Nidoking’s team to win.

The fight lasts all of five minutes as the Nidoking team sweeps the floor with their opponents. “It’s a knockout!” the announcer shouts as the bell rings. “Next up, it’s Team Helix vs. Team Dome!” The crew heads over to the betting table so that they can place bets on themselves for their upcoming match and so Dmitri can collect his winnings. They then work out which Pokemon to use in the battle since they can only enter three at a time, and one per person. They decide to go with Clefable, Pikachu, and Scyther for this round while Alex sits out.

* * *

DING! DING! DING!

The bell rings and the crowd starts cheering for the upcoming match. “And it begins!” the announcer shouts.

“ _Pikachu is off to a lightning start_ as it sprints into Riolu with a _shocking Electro Ball!_ Rushing to the aid of its partner, Tyrogue tackles the electric mouse!”

Gigan swoops in for a kill, as the announcer continues. “Scyther flies up to its target and— _Ooooh!_ —sweeps Tyrogue _right off the field!_ This is gonna be a _bloody battle, folks!_ ”

R.A.G.E., meanwhile, moves up a little and minimizes his presence.

“Riolu responds to Pikachu with a Force Palm to the face, followed quickly by a sneak attack from Gligar, _ending the reign of the yellow menace!_ ”

Gigan continues to use her Wing Attack. “Scyther is _on a roll_ as it _takes down Tyrogue! **Takes down Riolu!**_ And now it’s _gunning for Gligar!_ ”

R.A.G.E. softens the Gligar up with a Dazzling Gleam before Gigan prepares a finishing blow.

“Gligar sees the mean green machine flying towards it and tries to take it out! Will it stop it!?... No! It does not! Scyther goes in for the kill! And! _And! **And!**_... _Aaa_ nd it _nails it_ , folks! _**This triple takedown terror takes the match!**_ ”

* * *

Alex cheers along with the crowd as she watches her teammates battle it out in the arena. As Dmitri’s Scyther delivers the final blow, she leaps to her feet in joy and runs over to congratulate them. Once the excitement dies down, the team splits up the prize money for the fight and then heads over to collect their winnings from the betting table.

They don’t pay much attention to the next fight and plan out which Pokemon to use in their upcoming fight with the Nidoking team. Since they know the Pokemon they will be up against, they decide that Alex will tag in for Dmitri and they will use her Espurr, Morgan’s Espeon, and Shane’s newly caught Cofagrigus. By the time they figure this out, the fight is over and they’re on again. Feeling more brazen after their victory, the crew quickly places bets on themselves for larger sums of money and then take to the stage once again.

* * *

DING! DING! DING!

“And we’re off!”

“Espurr startles Nidoking with Fake Out, and it looks like Espeon is preparing something in the back! I wonder what’s in store!”

“Medicham and Hitmonlee both jump… and it’s a _double high jump kick, right into Espurr and Cofagrigus!_... And they _**take it!**_ Both Pokemon are _still up, folks!_ ”

“Medicham’s in trouble now, as Cofagrigus lets loose a deadly Shadow Ball! Meanwhile, Espeon unleashes its Future Sight on Hitmonlee, dealing a _double-down **knockout!**_ ”

“It’s all down to Nidoking, and it shows no sign of slowing down now! It lands a hit on Espurr with an Earth Power, bringing the tally to two-to-one! But will it be enough?”

The Nidoking exchanges a few attacks at range with its opponents, demonstrating both power and evasion. “Nidoking is on a roll, weaving and bobbing, closing the distance… and Espeon blinds it with a Sand Attack!” The blinded monster just runs forward, thrashing wildly. “It looks like sand won’t do Espeon any good now, as Nidoking _rampages straight through it!_ Espeon is _down for the count!_ ”

“Cofagrigus lets out another Shadow ball at Nidoking… it’s a _direct hit_ , but it manages to _stay up_ and _keep fighting!_ Nidoking charges straight at Cofagrigus in a fiery rage and lets out a breath of flame, but _Cofagrigus endures!_ It unleashes another Shadow Ball and... _Nidoking is **down!**_ The winner is... _**Team Helix!**_ ”

* * *

Team Helix have a brief moment to collect themselves before the final fight with the gym leader. They discuss who they want to enter in the battle as they make their way to the betting table to collect their prize money and betting winnings. They see the money stacking up against them as they draw near. Feeling quite confident Shane slams his hands down on the table and utters three words. 

“I’m all in.”

The others a bit more cautious. Alex only throws in half of her money while the others place more conservative bets. Those gathered around the table to place bets look at Team Helix like they’re crazy.

With only a few moments to go, the team returns to the ring and selects who will enter the fight. Morgan tags out so Dmitri’s Haunter can enter alongside Alex’s Lampent and Shane’s newly caught Sigilyph.

* * *

“Ladies and gentlemen! The fight you’ve all been waiting for!” The announcer shouts as the gym leader takes the stage. “The Spooky Sky Squad of Team Helix, the challengers! 

_VERSUS!_

The _Fantastic Fighting **Fuh-reak** , Jerome MacJabber_, in the _battle for the belt!_ ”

MacJabber unhooks his Pokeballs from his belt and throws them up in the air. One by one he punches them out onto the field with his gloved fist as they fall. The Pokemon emerge with flashy moves! A Scrafty, a Blaziken, and the star of the show, a shiny Hitmonchan!

DING! DING! DING!

“And we’re off to the start of the match as Lampent goes after Scrafty with a nasty burst of flame! Sigilyph follows up with a Miracle Eye Zen Headbutt combo, but the crafty fighter spitefully disables the move! Haunter flies in with a finishing Night Shade, but _Scrafty manages to **take the punishment** folks!_ ”

“Hitmonchan steps up to the plate, gets that look in its eye and… _POW! POW! POW! POW! **It’s a one Pokemon punching platoon!**_ Haunter tries to stall it with a Sucker Punch of its own, but it’s simply too fast! Hitmonchan takes down Haunter _with a flurry of fists!_ ”

“Blaziken prepares an electrifying punch, leaps at Sigilyph and... _Sigilyph dodges at the last second!_ Scrafty falls in for a Head Smash and— _what a doozy folks_ , this bird is avoiding _every attack thrown at it!_ ”

“Lampent charges up another fiery burst of power, launches it at Scrafty and _it goes down!_ Ladies and gentlemen, the count is now one down on each side! Who will win in this spec _tac_ ular _smackdown_!?”

With Scrafty down, the challengers’ team now shifts its focus to Hitmonchan and its deadly comet punches. “Sigilyph flies up to Hitmonchan and slices it with a wave of air, but Hitmonchan _keeps on punching through!_ ”

“Not one to be denied a hit, Blaziken sprints up to Sigilyph and delivers a Blaze Kick _right to the face_ , and Hitmonchan runs in to deliver the finishing blow with a _bone chilling Ice Punch!_ ” 

Lumiera is now the only remaining challenger Pokemon still up. “Not wanting to be on the receiving end of Hitmonchan’s _frightening fists_ , Lampent floats back and delivers a death dealing Shadow Ball! Hitmonchan is _down for the count!_ ”

“Blaziken charges forward with a Brave Bird... and misses Lampent! This little lantern is on a roll as it keeps sending _Shadow Ball after Shadow Ball_ at a _frantic frequency!_ ” The fiery fighter gets knocked down, but soon springs back up. “ _But Blaziken **defies death!**_ ”

Blaziken uses Brave Bird one last time. “Ladies and gentlemen, _I don’t believe it!_ Blaziken knees Lampent right in the face! _They both get sent flying into the stands!_ ” Apprehensive silence fills the stadium as everyone waits for the dust to settle. “ _ **AND THEY’RE BOTH DOWN! IT’S A DRAW!**_ Ladies and gentlemen, _in all my years I have never seen a fight like this one!_ ”

* * *

“HELIX! HELIX! HELIX! HELIX!” the crowd cheers wildly as Team Helix stands upon the stage awaiting the refs’ decision. Alex stares in awe at the crowd cheering for Team Helix, cheering for _her_.

The refs take to the stage and talk with MacJabber; it seems they’ve come to a decision. The gym leader walks over to Team Helix and hands the belt to Alex. “Congratulations,” he says to her. “You earned it, kid. You earned it.”

Alex hoists the belt high above her head as the crowd continues to cheer. “HELIX! HELIX! HELIX! HELIX!”

“And these are for you,” MacJabber continues, presenting each member of Team Helix with a Belt Badge and their choice of a selection of fighting type TMs. The team then heads over to the betting table to collect their prize money, and massive betting returns.

The crew makes a brief stop at a Wonder Trade center on the moon to trade out the stolen Sharpedo and a couple other Pokemon before heading back to the _Helix_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> H’s player wasn’t able to make it for this session and we had to end early to go to our school’s TRPG club meeting so we didn’t really pursue any major plot leads this session. Instead we decided to challenge another gym. This is the first time we’ve had a one chapter session in a long time.
> 
> The gym had fantastic flavor as an Outer Rim Pokemon fighting arena, complete with betting and an awesome announcer! It was a fun tournament style gym with a fantastic ending in the final round! I rolled not one, not two, not three, but four crits in a row! And then the enemy Pokemon missed quite a lot. It was such a tense battle with thousands of credits on the line which ended in a draw thanks to recoil! But thanks to some solid charm rolls we won the crowd over and earned the belt and the badge. Shane’s player went all in and the rest of us all put a lot of money down so it made that last match so tense. In the end we made so much money!
> 
> In terms of RP this session, I think this was a major character point for Alex. Having constantly been used, mistreated, and abandoned throughout her life, she has finally realized that she has found a group of people who will be there for her. She has finally found a family.
> 
> We also saw some lingering effects of the Mirror on Dmitri. Who knows what might happen to him? Only time will tell.
> 
> And of course, we got our next major lead to follow courtesy of everyone’s favorite British badass! I was very much looking forward to a joint mission with the Red Suns, and the challenge of actually having to RP two characters at the same time in the same place!
> 
> At the end of the session we did some wonder trading. Morgan got an Oshawott to replace her Croconaw and Shane got an Inkay to replace his Inkay! What are the odds!? Dmitri also traded out his Clefairy that he never uses and got a Pachirisu.


	44. Meanwhile..., Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Morgan reflects on recent events after the Helix crew's victory at the Fighting Gym.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was a little piece Morgan's piece wrote up to give readers a bit more insight into Morgan's character. I have uploaded here with her permission.

Morgan, Shane, Alex and Dmitri returned to the ship, still bristling with excitement over their victory. Everyone was congratulating Alex, who seemed to be doing much better now. Morgan smiled a bit; it was good for her to feel like part of the team. At that moment Morgan was very glad she had let Alex join the crew. She and Shane had witnessed a side of Alex she didn't think very many people had ever seen, and it made her realize what had drawn her to Alex in the first place - they were extremely similar.

Morgan hated children, and although she was aware that some might argue she was still one herself, she couldn't remember ever feeling like one. That was one reason why she hadn't wanted someone as young as Alex on the ship. But besides the fact that she would be annoying, there was also the concern that she wouldn't be able to fully appreciate the risks of their mission. After reading through Alex's Pokedex, however, she had begun to see a different side of her. And to think it was all thanks to H… Morgan thought it was sympathy, at first, that had caused her to change her mind, but it was something more.

It became clear to Morgan after seeing Alex cry so deeply for Pokemon that weren't even her own. Just like her, Alex had always been alone, and although they had dealt with it differently, in the end they were both just wearing facades. She empathized with Alex, and understood why she so desperately wanted to stay on the Helix; it was the same reason she herself stayed despite the near-constant danger and fear, it was a feeling of appreciation and belonging that they had failed to find anywhere else. Sometimes she hated their raggedy band of misfits, but they were her misfits, and there was no way she would trade that to go back to her old life, even if she could.

Conquering the Fighting Gym had been an unusually pleasant experience for Morgan. There, where the stakes had been relatively low (merely a few thousand credits instead of their lives), she was able to relax. There was even something cathartic about the rush of adrenaline that came from watching a match you had bet an obscene amount of money on. She realized that it had been hours since she'd felt the fear that had never seemed to fade. If she focused, she was able to recall it - the angst that the state of the universe hung very precariously by a single thread - but she was able to put it away again just as quickly. As long as she didn't obsess over it, it no longer controlled her. Realization dawned on her; was this all those unintelligible Sinai monks had meant? That she needed merely to surrender her dread of her dread and it would wane? It was wonderful, being lifted of that weight, and she stumbled, suddenly lightheaded. It was amazing how much a person could become accustomed to in just a few months. Now she too was grinning stupidly, basking in the glory of the team's victory and her own newfound freedom.


	45. Profile 3: The Rebel

Blades of grass tickle my neck as they sway in the warm breeze. Lying in the field, I gaze up at the sky. The pale orange glow of sunset hangs behind the distant mountains, giving way to brilliant shades of violet and indigo in the night sky. _It’s so beautiful_.

Slowly, a hand moves into my peripheral vision, fingers outstretched to the stars. It’s small and delicate, encased in a purple glove. I look over to see her lying next to me; just seeing her there, gazing up at the night sky, brings a smile to my face.

“Do you ever wonder what’s out there?” she asks suddenly. I look back up to see her hand tracing patterns between the stars.

“Well, it’s all just stars and planets,” I say. “Isn’t it?”

“But, like… those planets are all full of things, right?” She closes her fist like she’s trying to grab one of the stars out of the sky. “There could be all kinds of cool Pokemon and stuff… And lost artifacts no one’s found before.” Her hand drops to the ground.

“You’re thinking about your dad again, aren’t you?” I ask as I turn to face her again.

“Yeah…” she trails off. She lets out a sigh and turns her head to look at me. “One day I’ll get off this planet,” she says. “One day I’ll find him.” Her beautiful brown eyes are so full of hope and determination; I feel like I could just gaze into them forever.

“I wish I could help you find him,” I tell her. “I just don’t know what I could possibly do.”

“Just being here helps,” she says. I feel her fingers brush across the palm of my hand and I wrap mine around them. “You give me the strength to keep going.” She smiles and I feel like I’m going to melt. It’s so obvious how I feel, but I don’t acknowledge it. It’s so obvious how she feels, but I ignore it.

 _Stop lying to yourself!_ I’m screaming inside my head, but I don’t hear it. I try to pull her closer to me, but I don’t move. I just want to hold her in my arms. I just want to kiss all her pain away.

 _That’s not how this night went._ The world seems to tremble at my realization. I feel her hand pulling away and I try to hold on tight. It’s no use, though, and she slips through my fingers. My vision starts going fuzzy and I feel like I’m falling away from the moment. Every fiber of my being is fighting to stay here with her, but I know I can’t. My eyes slowly blink open and I’m in my bed again.

_It was only a dream._

* * *

I lie in bed staring at the wall for minutes, for hours; I can’t tell. I feel so exhausted, but I can’t fall back to sleep. After another long night tormented by dreams and memories, all I want is sleep, but it never comes. As I watch the slivers of sunlight flitting in between the slats of the blinds slowly creep along the wall with the coming dawn, I accept the futility of my struggle.

I roll over onto my back, then let out a long sigh. _How long until the memories stop haunting me?_ I know the answer already. How can I possibly forget those days? How can I possibly forget what I did? My hand slowly creeps up to my chest and grips the silver symbol hanging around my neck. _Oh, Alex, I miss you so much._

I stare at the ceiling until I finally work up the energy to sit up. I slowly push myself up with my elbows, then kick my legs over the side of the bed. Matted clumps of green hair fall down into my face, but I don’t care. I wipe my eyes, then stand up, causing Neko’s ears to perk up. He looks up at me from his corner of the bed. I gently scratch behind his ears, then make my way to the bathroom.

As the light flickers on, I come face to face with myself in the mirror. My hair is a mess, hanging loosely down past my shoulders, the strands all tangled together. I can see my eyes peeking out from behind my bangs. I reach up and brush my hair back. I sigh as the strands slip between my fingers and fall back into my face. Now I can see how sleep deprived I look. The dark circles under my bloodshot eyes are obvious. _You look like crap, Naomi._

I feel worse. I can’t keep going like this. I bite my lip in frustration and turn away. I reach into the shower and turn the water on, then strip down, letting my clothes fall to the floor. It doesn’t take long for the water to heat up and I step inside. The warm stream of water cascades over my body and washes the pain away.

For a few short moments, I don’t feel the crushing weight of my mistakes hanging over me and I can relax, if only just a little bit. I breathe in the steam-filled air, sucking it deep into my lungs, then release a drawn-out breath. _I need to get moving._ I shove my exhaustion aside and get to work washing myself.

When I’m done, I shut the water off, then step out and reach for my towel. I wrap it around myself, then grab another to dry myself off. After working through my hair, I give myself another look in the mirror. _Slightly less like crap now_. I sigh again. Every day it feels harder to keep going than the one before. 

I try to force the negative thoughts away as I head back to my bedroom. _Keep going, Naomi_ , I tell myself. _You owe yourself that much. You owe **her** that._ I may be alone, but the thought of Alex is what keeps me on my feet. One day I’ll find her again, but until then I’ll do my best to make a difference on this world.

I walk into my closet and I’m greeted by rows of clothes and shoes. _What good is it all anyway?_ All the clothes, all the money... I’d trade it all away for a chance to see Alex again, a chance to apologize. _I don’t even wear most of it anyway._

I throw on a comfortable black dress and a pair of leggings, then grab my favorite pair of boots and head to the bed. I sit down and pull them onto my feet. Neko rubs his head against my leg as I lace them up. I give him a few pets. “Don’t worry, buddy,” I say. “I’ll feed you in a minute.” I stand up, then head back to the bathroom to brush my hair and put on some makeup before I head to the kitchen for breakfast.

Neko’s long tail swishes back and forth eagerly as he follows me down the hallway. _At least one of us is happy._ As I step into the room, the housekeeping bot flies up to me. “Good morning, Miss Pierce,” it says in its annoying computerized voice. “What would you like for breakfast?”

“I can make it myself, thank you very much,” I grumble as I push it out of the way. The stupid thing never makes anything right. I don’t know why Dad spent so much money on it...

Once the bot flies off, I drop some bread in the toaster, then crack Neko open a can of food and dump it into his bowl. He purrs happily as he digs in. “Now for me…” I pop the toast out and drop it on a plate. I spread some strawberry jam on it, then sit at the table. _Such a glamorous breakfast… At least it tastes good._ I take a few bites, then pull out my Pokedex to browse the Spacenet while I eat. The news still shows the same old headlines; the politicians are still arguing about everything and nothing’s getting done. _Don’t they know people are suffering?_

I let out a dissatisfied sigh and stand up. I grab my crumb-covered plate, place it in the sink, then quickly head back to my room. _Time to get out of here._ I pick up the faux leather jacket draped over my chair and put it on, then sling my bag over my shoulder. Passing back through the kitchen, I pull out Neko’s Pokeball and recall him before heading for the elevator.

It’s a long way down from the penthouse, but the ride is quick at least. I step out of the elevator, then walk across the lobby and through the front door. I take in a breath of air, then step out onto the walkway. The skylane traffic above casts darting shadows across the ground as I hurry off to the skybus stop. I arrive just in time, and slip on just before it departs.

* * *

The warming rays of the sun shine down between the towering skyscrapers as I step off the skybus. In the crisp morning air, they feel most welcome upon my skin. As the bus flies off toward its next destination, I begin to make my way across the plaza toward the gathered mass of people. I can hear the chorus of shouting voices grow louder as I approach.

I gaze around as I slip into the crowd of protesters. A tall, balding man holds up a sign that says _RAISE UBI NOW_ in large lettering. A young, curly-haired woman who doesn’t look much older than me holds one that says _No jobs No minimum wage_. Dad would kill me if he knew I was here.

Moving through the shifting masses of people, I pull out my Pokedex and start recording. _This will be great footage for my blog_ , I think as I pan across the mob. _People need to know what this is all about._

For years now there’s been growing unrest over the economy. The universal basic income provided by the Federation just isn't enough to cover living expenses for the poor anymore with how low wages are. The Liberty Party has argued to reintroduce the old Earth concept of a minimum wage, which sounds like a good idea… _in theory_.

The Liberty Party and their big business backers like Dad argue that people should have to work for their money, which is, of course, a notion that really speaks to the Alliance people. Now, the issue that people don’t realize is that there just _aren’t_ enough jobs. With all the advancement in automation and bots, jobs in so many industries don’t exist anymore.

And that’s why I’m here today. Just like all these people, I’m here to show my support for the Unity Party’s proposed solution: to raise UBI to cover living expenses. That requires more Federation involvement, however, so the Liberty Party is adamantly against it. Just like always, the two parties can’t agree and people like Dad are benefitting from the deadlock.

A vote in the Alliance senate is drawing near, though, and Harmonia’s Liberty Party senator, Martin Summers, isn’t gonna go for raising UBI. There’s no way he’d go against his big business buddies’ interests. He and Dad go way back, and his daughter Blake and I used to… _No. Don’t think about **her**._

I reflexively shake my head as I try to clear the thoughts away. _Focus, Naomi._ I keep moving through the crowd to get some more footage. I really hope we can make a difference here today, and hopefully I can reach even more people when I can get home and write about this.

As I reach the other side of the mass of protesters, a loud bang rings out. _What the heck was that?_ People start screaming. The protesters are scattering. I frantically look around to figure out what’s going on. The police are moving in and some protesters are getting confrontational.  
_  
I need to get out of here._ I try to follow the crowd but people are running every which way and bumping into me from all sides. Suddenly, a large man stumbles by, tripping over another protester and knocking me off my feet with his flailing arm. I fall backward and crash into someone.

“Hey! What do you think you’re doing!” a voice shouts. A uniformed arm grabs onto me as I try to move away. _Oh, no._

“Let go of me!” I scream in protest. “I didn’t do anything!” I try to struggle, but it’s no use. The officer begins leading me away from the crowd, toward a group of protesters they’ve already arrested.

He hold my hands behind my back and attempts to put them in binders. _This can’t be happening._ “Let me go!” I shout as I try to squirm free. He slams me down hard over the hood of a skycar. “I didn’t freaking do anything!” The officer secures the binders and sits me down next to the other protesters.

_Dad is gonna kill me..._

* * *

I sit on an uncomfortable bench in the police precinct, watching the officers go about their business. They let me go, just like all the other protesters; we didn’t break any laws, after all. Despite that, I still feel full of dread. I’m not afraid of the police, nor the media. Those are things I can deal with. No, it’s Dad that I’m afraid of. I don’t know what he’ll do...

As if on cue, I see him approaching down the hallway. I feel myself retreating inward as my eyes lock with his cold stare. He stops in front of the bench and looks down at me. “You have a lot of explaining to do young lady,” he says calmly, but I can see the anger burning in his eyes. I can’t bear to look at them. I stare down at my feet as I mumble some sort of explanation, but nothing coherent comes out of my mouth.

“Save it,” he says sternly, putting an end to my stuttering. “We’re not having this conversation here.” He grabs my arm and pulls me to my feet. With his vice-like grip, he drags me down the hall toward the door. I don’t try to put up a fight.

Outside, he practically shoves me into the back of his waiting skycar, then he steps in behind me. “Take us home,” he instructs the chauffeur.

“You got it, Mr. Pierce,” the man responds. The vehicle lifts off and we start flying off, back toward home.

We spend the ride in dead silence. I stare down at my hands in my lap, nervously alternating between fiddling with my rings and picking at the chipped black polish on my nails. I steal the occasional glance upward to see him glaring at me. I know there’s a lecture coming as soon as we get home.

I’m not wrong. Almost the second the apartment door closes, he starts yelling. “What the hell were you thinking?” he demands.

“I- I-”

“There’s video of you on _national news_ openly opposing the policy I support,” he cuts me off before I can get the words out.

“So what?!” I shout back, working up some courage.

“Do you have any idea how much trouble this will cause me?”

“I don’t care,” I tell him coldly as I stare defiantly back at him.

“Well, young lady, you had better _start_ caring,” he responds. “Your actions have been very damaging to my reputation.”

“ _Good_.”

His eye twitches in irritation. “Don’t you get sassy with me,” he warns.

“Or what?” I snap back.

“You are _really_ trying my patience,” he says calmly. He’s holding back his anger. “What has gotten into you? First the attitude, then those disgusting rumours, and now-”

“I already told you those weren’t true!” I shout. “It was Blake-”

“It doesn’t matter if they are true or not, what matters is that people _believe_ they are true. You may not care about your image, but it reflects poorly on me. You are the future of this family, so act like it.”

“Family? What family? Look around, it’s just me and you! It’s no wonder Mom left you! You don’t care about anything but your stupid legacy, not even your own fucking daughter!”

His hand moves so fast I don’t even have time to react before it strikes me on the cheek. “Don’t you talk to me like that!” he shouts in anger. “I have sacrificed so much for you!”

“You haven’t sacrificed _anything!_ ” I scream, ignoring the pain. “You don’t even know anything about me! _I hate you!_ ” And with that, I turn and storm off to my room. I collapse into a sobbing mess on the bed. I wish I could be anywhere but here.

* * *

I don’t know how much time passes as I lie on the bed. Hours probably. I don’t feel like moving, so I just stay here, curled up and motionless. I feel so alone again. Darkness creeps in as the last traces of sunlight shift across the floor, but still I lie here.

Eventually, I become aware of an acute sense of hunger filling me. It’s been hours since I last ate, I realize. All I had today was some toast. Now, all I can think of is food. It overwhelms my feeling of sadness and I finally work up the strength to move. I stretch out my arms and legs, then roll over onto my back. I stare up at the ceiling for just a few moments before I sit myself up.

I grab my Pokedex and see a message from Dad from hours ago. _Have to work through dinner since you pulled me out of an important meeting. Just order something to eat and stay out of trouble._ Of course he would blame me… _It’s not like he works late every day already or anything._  
  
I let out a long sigh, then let Neko out of his ball. I could use the company. “Okay, what should we order?” I ask him as he stretches himself out even though I know he can’t answer. He looks up at me expectantly. “I guess you want food too, huh? Well, hold on. Lemme order mine first.”

I pull up the browser on my Dex and bring up the site for my favorite pizza place. _Like I was gonna order anything else._ I place an order for my usual pizza— veggies with no meat, _of course_ — then hop to my feet. Neko excitedly follows me to the kitchen where I dump another can of food in his bowl. He immediately starts chowing down, so I leave him to it and head to the TV.

As soon as I turn it on, the news springs up on the screen. “We turn now to Harmonia, where earlier today a protest in support of the Unity party’s initiative to raise universal basic income turned violent,” the anchor says. “ANN correspondent Mike Jones is live on the scene. Mike, what can you tell us about this protest?”

The program cuts to a young reporter standing in Government Plaza where the protest was earlier. “Yes, Rachel,” he says. “I’m just across the way from Harmonia capitol building where earlier today demonstrators in support of raising universal basic income clashed with local police.” The reporter motions toward the plaza. “Now, most of the protesters were non-violent, but the police did end up arresting several. What’s really interesting is that among those arrested was Naomi Pierce, daughter of ASI Consolidated CEO Jonathan Pierce, one of Harmonia’s most prolific businessmen.” Video of me being arrested over the hood of a skycar flashes onto the screen. “Pierce is a very public opponent of raising UBI and is one of the biggest campaign financiers for Harmonia’s Liberty Party senator, Martin Summers, so it’s quite surprising that his daughter is actively protesting against the party’s platform. It remains unclear how this will affect the upcoming vote, or Senator Summers’s re-election campaign.”

“Alright, thank you, Mike,” the anchor cuts back in. “And for our final story tonight, members of the Unity Party in the senate are railing against a new bill introduced by the Liberty Party that will expand anti-discrimination protections in the workplace for people with cybernetic augmentations, arguing that augmentations are an unfair advantage-”

“Ugh… I can’t watch anymore of this.” I shut off the news and begin to flip through the channels. I’d rather be watching anything else until what I want to watch comes on. Politicians are the worst. The Unity Party may be right on the issue of UBI, but they’re just as bad as the Liberty party. Their stance on cybernetics is _disgusting_.

Eventually I find the channel I’m looking for and set the remote down. An advertisement is playing, but it’s better than listening to the news. A man in full formal naval uniform crashes in on a giant pink Wailord. I instantly recognize him as the leader of the Water Gym. “Hey kids!” he shouts out in a jolly tone as he holds out a box of cereal. “Have you tried Captain Benz’s Whale Crunch?”

Suddenly, my Pokedex buzzes, pulling my attention away from the TV. _Looks like the pizza’s here._ I check my Dex to confirm, then walk out onto the balcony. The delivery drone swoops overhead, then doubles back and comes to a halt just in front of me. I hold my Dex up and transfer the credits over. The drone dispenses the box containing my pizza into my arms in kind, then it flies off to make its next delivery.

I step back inside, then settle onto the couch with my pizza as the commercial break ends and the program starts up. _Just in time._

“Welcome to Siogern VI, where the roughest, toughest trainers in the Outer Rim come to RUMBLE!” The announcer’s voice blares out. The camera swoops overhead as a lineup of teams enter the arena before the cheering crowd. “These competitive combatants are here today to test their mettle and pit themselves against the Fearsome Fighting Gym Leader himself, Jerome MacJabber! But will they take home the prize?”

I take a bite out of my pizza slice as I eagerly watch the first two teams step up. _I wonder if anyone will win the belt this time._ I take another bite, savoring the delicious taste. Pizza and watching the televised Fighting Gym matches, two of the few things that still bring me joy. _It’s the small things in life._

* * *

She stands on the ledge, arms extended, her figure silhouetted against the warm glow that bathes the city in gold. Her long hair flows in the wind as she looks at me with tear-filled eyes. “Without you, I have nothing!” she screams. “You’re the only thing I have left to live for!”

“What are you doing!?” I shout. _Don’t you know already?_

“If I can’t have you, then I might as well jump! You’ve seen my scars, you know I’ll do it!”

“Alex, don’t do this… Please… You need help.” _And you have to help her. Don’t you see?_

“The only thing I need is you!” _Please. You belong with her._  
  
“Is this all just some desperate attempt to somehow make me love you? I told you that’s not how this works… I… I can’t do this…” _Don’t you see that you **do** love her?_ I turn away and move toward the stairs but I’m screaming at myself to go back. _What are you doing?! Go to her! She needs you!_

I expect her to come running after me, but she doesn’t. I turn back to see her still standing on the ledge. _Why is she still on the ledge?_

“Goodbye, Naomi.” She takes a step back, and falls away.

“ ** _Alex!_** ” I scream as I bolt upright in bed.

Neko dives from the bed, causing a loud thud as he lands on the floor. I can see his green eyes open wide in the faint pre-dawn light. I look around, breathing heavily as I take in my surroundings. _It was only a dream_ , I tell myself. My breathing slows, but my heart is still pounding. I’m covered in sweat and tears are starting to pour down my cheeks. _It was only a dream…_  
  
I fall back onto my pillow and just stare at the ceiling. I know it was just another nightmare, but I can’t get the image out of my mind. I hope she’s okay. The tears start flowing faster and I break down into sobs. _Why did I have to leave her behind? Why couldn’t I see?_

* * *

The light of dawn floats in through the window, but I’ve already been up for hours. There was no falling back to sleep after that nightmare… I sit in my chair with my knees pulled up against my chest, pouring over old Spacenet articles. I know it only happened in my dream, but I have to make sure. 

I look over every local news site for Vandia, but I find no mention of any deaths that match my dream. No deaths of anyone matching Alex’s description. _She’s obviously still alive_ , I tell myself. _What are you doing?_ Maybe I’m just trying to relieve my guilt…

“Let’s at least be productive about this,” I mumble. I pull up the video I shot yesterday and start editing it. I need to cut out the parts that can be used to identify me before I upload it. I need to maintain my online anonymity if I want to keep this fight going.

Once the video is ready, I upload it to my blog and start writing something up. I need to explain why raising UBI is the right choice. Hopefully I can make people understand… I type up a rather long post— much longer than intended— then publish it.

“Alright, let’s get moving,” I say to no one in particular. I stand up quickly, causing my chair to roll away. I’ve got a lot of research to do today, so I might as well make the most of the fact that I’m up so early. I take a quick shower, throw on some clothes, and quickly finish up the rest of my morning routine, then I’m off.

The bright light of the rising sun radiates out from behind the tall skyscrapers, filling the skyline with a warm gold glow as I step out into the early morning air. I walk past a few people on the edge of the walkway who are gazing off toward the horizon as I make my way to my destination. Soon that sun will be much higher in the sky and they’ll lose that beautiful view.

* * *

I gaze around the coffee shop as I wait in line for yet another coffee. It’s been a long day and I’ve been here for most of it. I feel safer here doing my research than at home. If Dad ever finds out what I’ve been doing, I don’t know what I’ll do… what _he’ll_ do…

“The usual, Naomi?”

I nearly jump at the mention of my name. The barista is smiling at me. “Oh, uh… yeah…” I feel myself blush a bit. “You remembered my name, uh…” I glance down at her nametag. “Chloe?”

She laughs as she rings up my order. “Of course I remember, you’re here almost every day. You drink a lot of coffee, you know.”

I let out a halfhearted laugh and smile sheepishly. “Yeah, I guess I do.”

“Alright, your coffee will be ready in a moment.”

She turns away to start preparing the drink. I can’t help but watch. She’s really cute. Definitely my type... I just don’t think I can see anyone else again, not when I’m still dreaming of Alex… Not after Blake… _She probably doesn’t even like girls anyway._  
  
I sigh as I pay for my coffee, then head back to my seat. _Time to get back to work._ I take a sip, then pull out my Dex and start going over the files the Red Suns collected again. I need to connect all the dots.

Dad and his company have been doing some really bad things— I’ve known that for a long time, but I found the worst one yet. They’ve been using the senators in their pocket to push law changes and obtaining lands for the Outer Colony mining operations they’re invested in using insider knowledge to edge out all competition. That seems sketchy enough on its own, but the real kicker is that they’ve been cutting corners by putting the operations into effect _before_ the law changes they've pushed for make it _actually_ legal to do so.

I still don’t know who all the players are, so I can’t do anything else until I do. Since the corporations run everything, I need to have a solid case before I can make any moves. There’s no protection for people doing what I’m doing in the Alliance. The hardest part is going to be making contact with someone in the Federation who can help me. But, for now…

I take another sip of my coffee. _It’s gonna be a long night._

* * *

The brisk night time breeze blows through my hair as I make my way back home. I sweep it back, out of my eyes, and look around. It’s dark now and only the lights lining the edges of the now-empty walkway illuminate my walk home. I shiver as I’m blasted with another rush of cool air. _I wish I went home before the sun went down._ It gets so chilly on this part of Harmonia this late at night.

I zip my jacket up a bit more, then shove my hands in my pockets, but it does little to alleviate my discomfort. _I should’ve dressed warmer_. The wind goes right through my leggings like they aren’t even there and I can feel the cold nipping at my skin through the piercings in my ears and nose. I pick up the pace, hoping I can get home just a bit quicker.

I just need to tough it out a little longer. I can see my building only one more block down. _I can’t wait to get inside._ As I approach, I remove my hands from my pockets and start fishing around in my bag for my Pokedex so I can get in.

“I was wondering when you’d show up.” I freeze at the sound of _that_ voice. _Not her._ I slowly look up to confirm my fear. _Anyone but her._ She’s leaning against the side of the building looking at me with that fake smile on her face. I look back at her with disgust.

“What are you _doing_ here, Blake?” I ask. She’s the _last_ person I want to see tonight.

Her boots clunk along the walkway as she approaches. “I was in the neighborhood and thought I’d drop by.” Her bleach blonde hair seems to glow as she passes the streetlight.

I let out an annoyed sigh. _I’m not dealing with this._ “Yeah, well you can leave now,” I tell her. “I told you, I don’t wanna see you anymore.” I move to walk past her, but she grabs my arm.

“You don’t get to walk away that easily,” she says, pulling me toward her. She towers over me in her heels. “I saw you on the news yesterday, getting yourself in trouble again.”

“So what?” I ask, giving her a cold look. “When have you ever cared about me getting in trouble?”

“I’ve always cared about you.”

“That’s rich coming from _you_ ,” I snap back at her, yanking my arm out of her grasp. I start backing away but she takes another step toward me.

“What's _that_ supposed to mean?” she asks, flashing an expression of feigned hurt. “You're the one who left me, _remember?_ ” She leans in closer and I can feel her warm breath on my skin; it reeks with the stench of cigarettes.

Her hand makes contact with my leg, then starts sliding up toward the bottom of my skirt. I quickly push her away and take another step away. “Back off,” I warn her as I back up against the wall. “We’re not doing this again.”

“ _Aww_. You used to _love_ it when I did that.” Her tone sounds almost playful, but I can tell she's annoyed. “You've changed, Naomi.”

“And you haven't,” I snap back at her. “The only thing that changed is that I realized who you really are. You're just a selfish bitch who doesn't care about anyone other than yourself. You think that after the way you treated me that I'd _ever_ want to-”

“Oh please, Naomi,” she interrupts. “Nobody _actually_ cares what you want. Why don't you get that?” She steps toward me again and grabs me as I try to slip past her, pressing me up against the wall. “In this life you have to take what you want, otherwise you’ll just let people take what they want from you. And you know _exactly_ what I want.” She brushes her neatly manicured fingertips across my cheek as she breathes out the last few words, practically whispered into my ear, “We could be so good together, you know.”

I throw my arms up to hold her back. “Get _off_ of me!” I shout as I push against her with all my strength. She staggers backward with a surprised look on her face. All I feel is anger as I stare her down. “After everything that you’ve done, how dare you just show up here expecting me to just come crawling back to you? We are _never_ getting back together! Choosing you was the worst decision I’ve ever made!”

She looks at me for a moment before her lips form into a smug smirk. “Hmph. I see how it is. You're still pining over that stupid Sinai tramp, aren't you? Get real, Naomi. You're never gonna see that bitch again, so you might as well just-”

Her words are cut short by the sound of my open palm striking her cheek. My hand tingles in pain, but I’m too angry to notice. “Don't you _ever_ talk about her that way!” I scream at her as she stares at me in stunned silence.

Finally, her shock dissipates, only to be replaced with a look of actual anger. “What the _hell_ is wrong with you?” she demands as she rubs the bright red mark on her face.

“ _Me?!_ ” I scream, tears starting to pour down my cheeks. “What’s wrong with _you?!_ You need to just go! I never wanna see your face again!” Before she gets the chance to say anything, I storm away toward my building.

As fast as I can, I swipe in and enter the elevator. I brace myself against the handrail as the elevator climbs. My knees feel so weak.

When the doors slide open, I slowly walk to my apartment door. As soon as it closes behind me, my legs give out and a slump to the floor against it. I break down into tears, clutching the silver chain around my neck.  
__  
I’m so sorry, Alex… I should have picked you…

_I should have picked you..._

* * *

When I’m done feeling sorry for myself, I manage to pick myself back up again and drag myself to the kitchen. I need to eat something. With Dad working late again, I set my leftover pizza from last night to reheat in the oven, then give Neko his own dinner. While I wait, I tune the TV to the Fighting Gym broadcast, hoping I didn’t miss too much. It’s on a commercial break, so I head back to the kitchen.

“Welcome back to Siogern VI!” I hear from the other room as I retrieve my pizza. “Ladies and gentlemen! The fight you’ve all been waiting for!” _It’s the championship match!_ I pick up the pace and rush back and settle onto the couch as the camera pans across the challenging team: a Haunter, a Sigilyph, and a Lampent. “The Spooky Sky Squad of Team Helix, the challengers! _VERSUS!_ _The Fantastic Fighting **Fuh-reak** , Jerome MacJabber_, in the _battle for the belt!_ ”

I watch with eager anticipation as the camera cuts to MacJabber. The gym leader tosses his Pokeballs up into the air and punches them out into the ring. This time, his team is Scrafty, Blaziken, and, of course, his golden Hitmonchan. Then the broadcast cuts back to the opposing team, the camera pans back from the Pokemon to show their trainers. There’s a dark-haired guy with glasses, a guy with shocking blue hair, and…

“ _Alex?_ ”

My jaw drops and the pizza slice in my hand falls back to the plate. I can’t believe what my eyes are seeing. I blink, but the picture doesn’t change. _Can it be?_

The bell rings and the fight commences. My eyes are glued to the screen. It’s unmistakable, the way she commands her Pokemon. _It’s her._

The fight rages on and only her Lampent remains. I’m on the edge of my seat. “Hang in there, Alex,” I say to the TV. The ghostly Pokemon takes out the Hitmonchan and now it’s one-on-one. She’s unleashing attack after attack and dodging the hits.

I jump to my feet as the Blaziken leaps into the Lampent and they fly off into the stands. _C’mon... C’mon…_ I can’t see through the dust cloud on the screen.

“ ** _AND THEY’RE BOTH DOWN! IT’S A DRAW!_** ” the announcer shouts. “Ladies and gentlemen, _in all my years I have never seen a fight like this one!_ ”

“HELIX! HELIX! HELIX! HELIX!” the crowd cheers wildly as the refs deliberate. MacJabber crosses the ring and hands the belt to Alex.

“ _Yes!_ ” I shout. I’m so happy for her, but I wish I could be there with her. I wish she knew that I was here watching. Just seeing her gives me hope. She finally made it off Vandia to chase her dreams. I need to do the same. I’ll finish what I started here, and then I’ll find her.

_I promise you, Alex, we’ll see each other again._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This thing is finally done! This was actually the first idea I had for Profiles and was part of what inspired me to do this anthology series in the first place. Now, after months of on and off work, I am happy to say that it’s done. I had a lot of disjointed ideas of what I wanted it to be, and I wasn’t sure that I could tie them all together in a coherent way, but I am super happy with the way it turned out.
> 
> There’s a lot going on here, so I’ll try to break it down. The two main things I wanted to focus on initially were Naomi’s guilt over leaving Alex behind and her mission to bring down her father’s company, but it definitely evolved beyond that. I really wanted to focus on the psychological aspect, hence the two dream scenes. The first I felt was a good way to open up the story and is more or less just a memory of some interaction Naomi had with Alex. The second is taken directly from the third part of Alex’s origin story, but I turned it on its head and have Alex jump off the building in the dream to represent Naomi’s guilt. Then we see Naomi’s emotional/psychological struggle continue in her waking hours, especially with the getting out of bed/getting ready scene.
> 
> The protest wasn’t in my initial vision for this Profile, but I needed something to incite an argument between Naomi and her father and the GM suggested that we could explore Alliance politics a bit. I think it adds a really nice touch since it shows Naomi standing up for an issue she might not have cared about if not for Alex and I’m really proud with how it turned out.
> 
> Then there’s the scene that shows Naomi actually working to bring down her father’s company. It’s really only a small part of the story since I approached this Profile as just a slice of Naomi’s life and not a complete story arc unto itself. The coffee shop angle was something I sort of came up with on the spot and I think it worked really well for the scene.
> 
> The TV scenes were actually the earliest ones I came up with. Volume 3 had barely started when I first thought of them. I always had this headcanon that Naomi saw Alex take on the Fighting Gym on TV so I knew I had to show that in here. From there it made sense to show some news to elaborate on the protest and to give another taste of Alliance society. It was also the GM’s idea to include the hilarious Captain Benz cameo.
> 
> Lastly, we finally get to see Naomi’s failed relationship. From the glimpses given in Alex’s origin and in Seeing Red Part 3, it’s revealed that Naomi didn’t get with Alex because she thought she loved someone else, but then when she went back to Harmonia she realized she didn’t because of how Alex had changed her entire worldview. Well now you’ve met Blake Summers. I teased her a bit throughout the series but we only get to see her near the end. It turns out it was kind of an abusive relationship. They were definitely together for a while after Naomi returned from Vandia, but Naomi broke it off once she realized how awful Blake was. However, she probably wouldn’t have broken it off if she hadn’t met Alex.
> 
> I am really proud of this Profile and I think it gives Naomi the character development that she deserved. While it doesn’t stand as well on its own as the previous two profiles, I think it’s a fantastic addition to Naomi’s overall story throughout Spacemon.


	46. Volume 2, Chapter 15: Persuasion on Parisia

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Helix crew meets with a Genevan politician on Parisia in hopes of acquiring invitations to the Galactic Governance Conference.

After their exciting victory in the Fighting Gym, the crew returns to the _Helix_ for some much needed rest and relaxation. But soon it’s back to business and the crew meets up on the bridge to plan their next move.

“I think we should begin planning for the conference,” Shane tells his crewmates. “It is a month away but we really need to figure out how to get ourselves on the ship.”

“We can be Space Ninjas and sneak aboard!” Alex blurts out, but no one takes her seriously.

“Seeing that we’ve re-confirmed that I’m going to be the saviour of the universe, I feel that I should be invited to whatever I deem necessary,” says H. “So it will be easy to obtain an invitation. I will simply go and ask.”

“I don’t think that’s quite how it works,” Morgan tells him.

“Well, why not?” H asks her. “I am an important individual doing important things and will continue to do more important things.”

“Yes, but I’m not sure the rest of the universe will think that as well,” Shane points out.

“That’s because the rest of the universe is useless, as per usual,” says H. “If they are so useless then why don’t we just ignore them and move on?”

“Going to this conference is very important,” Morgan tells him.

“And the only people who can get into the conference are those who are deemed important by most people,” Shane adds.

“Most people?” H asks. “That doesn’t make any sense. If we know anything about Human history it’s that ‘most people’ are a bunch of idiots!”

“You don’t make any sense,” Alex retorts.

“Oh, be quiet,” H snaps at her. “Let me rant!”

“Enough of this,” says Shane. “We need a plausible way of acquiring invitations.”

“That Graves woman,” says Morgan. “She’s pretty important. Maybe she could get us in.”

“Yeah, the Admiral?” Shane asks.

“Yeah.”

“Hmm. Maybe we should talk to her.”

“It couldn’t hurt.”

“But the issue is contacting her,” Shane points out as he tries looking up the _FNS Halberd_ , Graves’s ship, and finds nothing. “She’s on a military vessel so it’s not like we can just look up where it is or how to contact it. So, anyone got another idea?

“What if we, like, hack the Federation and steal some invitations?” Alex suggests.

“That might work,” Shane tells her. “But I really don’t want to risk potentially making yet another enemy. We should try to obtain invitations by legal means.”

“What if we could get a politician to get us in?” Dmitri suggests.

“That’s actually a great idea,” Shane tells him. He then turns to Morgan and says. “Morgan, do you think you could get in contact with a politician from Parisia?”

“Why me?” she asks.

“Well, you’re the only one who has anything close to political connections,” Shane tells her. “It’s our best shot.”

“Alright,” Morgan agrees. “Minerva, set a course for Parisia.”

“Sure thing, boss,” the pilot responds. She begins firing up the engines in preparation for departing from Siogern VI.

“Alright, now we have something of a plan,” says Shane. “But we still need to figure out who we can get on to the ship.” He looks at Morgan, Dmitri, and Alex. “It will be easy to get you three on the ship once we have passes. But I’m not so sure H will be able to blend in. And as for me…” he trails off as he holds up his branded arm. “I’m going to have to sneak on board digitally.”

“Wait, what?” Alex asks.

“Oh yeah,” Shane tells her. “You don’t know. Well-”

“Look,” H cuts Shane off. “As you know, he is my rival, and as my rival he is just as well versed in the art of augmentation as I am, myself. He simply goes off in a different field. And one of the augmentations he has applied to himself is the ability to go inside the world of technology, for whatever reason he would want to do that.”

Alex stares at H in confusion, not really understanding anything she just heard. She look over to Shane and sees a confused expression on his face as well. “What?” she asks.

“What H means to say,” Morgan interjects. “Is that… Shane is, um, _different_.”

“Different how?” Alex asks her.

“Simply put, I’m kind of a glitch in reality. I don’t even know how I exist,” Shane explains. He walks up to the bridge computer and touches one of its ports. Shane vanishes, only to appear on the viewscreen. He waves at Alex as she stares in awe.

“You can go… _inside_ a computer?” Alex asks.

“Yes,” Shane replies matter-of-factly. “What about it?”

“Oh my God, that’s _so cool!_ ” Alex squeals in excitement. 

* * *

Things aboard the _Helix_ settle down as the ship departs from Siogern, the crimson gas giant fading from view. Dmitri walks alone down the corridor on his way back to his room. He feels as if he’s being followed. By what, he is not sure. He turns but there is nothing behind him. He tries to shrug it off as he continues on to his room, but he can’t shake the feeling that he’s being followed.

* * *

On the other end of the ship, Morgan approaches Shane’s warp lab. The vision she saw in the Warp the other day has been gnawing at her in the back of her mind and she needs to talk to someone about it.

“Morgan, you okay?” Shane asks when he sees Morgan enter the room with a perturbed look on her face.

“Can you turn that off for a sec?” Morgan asks him, eyeing the active warp drive in the center of the room.

“Yea, sure,” he tells her as he shuts off the drive.

“I wanted to ask you about something,” Morgan explains, relaxing a bit now that the warp drive is inactive. “Do you remember the first time we turned the warp drive on?”

“Right… Yeah, that.”

“Did you, um, see anything?” Morgan asks nervously.

“No? Just the Warp. It was out of control.”

“When it went out of control like that… I had another vision.”

“Really? What did you see?”

“I’m not really sure. It was a ship… full of people and Pokemon and it got hit by meteors. But I’m not sure where it was going… or _when_.”

“I’m not sure what to make of that,” Shane tells her.

“Never mind. It probably doesn’t mean anything anyway.”

“Do you think maybe Gilgamesh knows something about it? He mentioned something about the Gardener?”

“Honestly, I’m not even sure if I even understand what Gilgamesh is talking about half the time. Like I said, it’s probably not important anyway. Sorry to bother you.” She turns and leaves the room. It’s a lie and she knows it, but she wants it to be true.

Shane isn’t buying that one bit, but doesn’t feel like telling Morgan that is the right call. He turns to try to get back to work, but the thought of the Gardener begins to gnaw at him and he is unable to focus.

* * *

When the _Helix_ arrives back on Parisia, the crew splits up to take care of business. Armstrong provides H with a shopping list of equipment they will need to begin work on their experiments, as well as a bottle of 3488 vintage wine for when they complete the procedure, and sends him off to get them. Shane, Dmitri, and Alex go off to browse for TMs and other gear while Morgan goes to meet with Councilor Sophia Fontaine, her representative in the Genevan parliament.

“Hi, I’d like to speak with Ms. Fontaine, please,” Morgan asks the receptionist when she arrives at Sophia Fontaine’s office.

“Do you ‘ave an appointment?” he curtly asks her in his thick French accent.

“No…” Morgan tells him. “Do I need an appointment?”

He silently hands her a form to fill out with her information, just to verify her citizenship, and that she is one of Councilor Fontaine’s constituents.

“What is the nature of zis appointment?” he asks when Morgan returns the form.

“Well, I was hoping to obtain invitations to the Galactic Governance Conference,” Morgan tells him.

“Very well,” he sighs. “And what makes you so special enough as to deserve such an invitation?”

“Well, uh, we were involved in the Battle of Solace Prime and we wanted to present some of our findings on the Genesect at the conference,” Morgan tells him. While not entirely false, it is also not the reason that they want to get into the conference. “You see, the Genesect have a very interesting biological-mechanical interface and despite being cybernetically augmented clones of prehistoric Pokemon they still display a number of fascinating behavioral patterns indicative of Pokemon evolutionary history.”

“Okay… Well I ‘ave no way of verifying if any of what you just said is true but I will let you in and I will let you make your case to ze councilor.”

Morgan walks into the office and sees the councilor sitting at her desk. She looks up at Morgan when she sees her enter and puts on a fake politician’s smile. “‘Ello, ‘ow can I ‘elp you?” she asks.

“Look, we really need invitations to the Galactic Governance Conference,” Morgan tells her bluntly. The councilor’s fake smile falters for a moment. “My team and I have been researching in the field of advanced augmentation techniques and we’ve figured out a way to increase human capacity for augmentations and we’d like to present our findings at the conference.”

“While zat does sound very interesting, I don’t see ‘ow it is relevant to zis conference,” Councilor Fontaine tells her. “Why not present zis at a more appropriate technological venue?”

“We believe these findings are so important that they could have massive impact on both political and military policy.”

“So, it’s a matter of integrating with current war policy?”

“Yes.”

“So, what can you tell me about ze project itself? Who is ze lead researcher?”

“Well, we had been working with Dr. Louis Armstrong before his recent disappearance but fortunately we were far enough along that we were able to complete the research and would like to present our findings. We have a subject who has been heavily augmented and showcases the advancements we have made.”

“Alright. Why don’t we set up an appointment for Monday? Why don’t you bring ze rest of your team in and we can discuss things further?”

“Alright,” Morgan agrees.

* * *

The following morning, Armstrong and H begin preparations to begin the procedure to transform H into the next-generation cyborg Armstrong had envisioned. The final components they need are delivered to the Helix and they put everything together. Once the preparations are complete, Armstrong straps H in and begins the first round of nanobot injections.

Over the next several hours, the injected nanobots introduce mechanical additions to his DNA and organelles, cell by cell. Soon, his cells start autonomously producing all sorts of nanites, and his tissues become metallically charged.

H awakens as Sunday night rolls around. With the procedure complete, Armstrong calls the rest of the crew to the lab. They gather to see H start to come around. His eyes open to reveal they now glow bright green. As his heart hums, pulses of green energy flow down his veins. His augmentations are visibly more integrated into his body; a perfect symbiosis of man and machine.

“We’ve done it,” Armstrong tells H, placing his hands upon the cyborg's shoulders. “How do you feel, my boy?”

“I feel incredible!” H exclaims as he leaps to his feet. “It’s time to truly achieve perfection!”

* * *

That night, as Dmitri tries to sleep, he finds himself tormented by nightmares. He tosses and turns, mumbling in his sleep as the same person who he felt following him pursues him in his dreams.

He awakens in a state of sleep paralysis, aware of his surroundings but unable to move. Something is in the room with him. He can see a figure shrouded in darkness lurking in the corner. His heart begins to race as it creeps closer.

Dmitri reaches out with his mind and touches something very dark. He immediately recoils into himself, wishing he hadn’t done that. The figure moves closer still, now standing over Dmitri’s bed, still surrounded by darkness. His heart is pounding in his chest now and he whimpers in fear as the figure reaches out to him.

Suddenly Morgan enters the room, the light from the hall illuminating the dark room. Dmitri quickly sits up, finally waking from his paralysis, and sees Morgan standing in the doorway; the figure is gone.

“Do you always talk in your sleep?” Morgan asks, sounding quite annoyed.

“How would I know; I’m asleep?” Dmitri asks her between ragged breaths, his heart still racing.

“Well, what happened?”

“Somebody, or _something_ , is following me.”

“I don’t think so…”

“I can feel its presence.”

“Can you see it?”

“I haven’t been able to get a good look at it.”

“Well, it was probably just a bad dream… So, I’m going to go back to sleep, and I would appreciate it if you wouldn’t scream.”

Morgan leaves the room and the door shuts behind her, the light fading from the room. Dmitri releases Wilhelm and has the Haunter keep an eye on the room as he tries to go back to sleep.

He hears someone faintly call out.

“ _Dmitri_ …”

And thus begins a long and restless night.

* * *

The following day, the crew prepares for their meeting with Councilor Fontaine. Morgan brings H a set of clothes she purchased for him and sternly tells him, “Put these on.”

“Why do I need to put these on?” he asks, clearly not happy with the idea.

“We’re going to a meeting with an important person,” Morgan tells him. “And when you meet with important people you put pants on.”

“No. You wear your finest. This is my finest. I am wearing a labcoat. The labcoat is the true genius that is science. It is the representation of all that science stands for and the uniform that is used to portray it into infinity.”

“H put on some pants!” Shane shouts into the room as he walks past.

“Why pants?” H asks. “They are incredibly restrictive and uncomfortable and pointless.”

“You’ve never even worn pants,” Morgan points out.

“Yes. But they look uncomfortable.”

“Can you at least try them?”

“Give me one good reason why I need to wear these… _things_.”

“So we can complete the mission and get ourselves into the conference.”

“What could they have against simply a lab coat? It is all you need.”

“We’re going to meet with a very important politician and I’m sure she would appreciate it if you wear pants. Otherwise, we’re not going to be able to get into the conference.”

“Why can’t I just skip this silly meeting?”

“I told her that we wanted to go to the conference because we had done some research with augmentations and that means you.”

“So you need me for something again because I’m me? Why can’t I simply be elsewhere doing other important things?”

“She wants to see the progress we’ve made. We’re going to show you off to her and, eventually, to everyone at that conference.”

“Ooooh, so it’s not a requirement of being there because you need me in order to progress. It is so that we can show others the progression we have made! Yes, we are planning the steps to do this. This is the perfect time! You’ve done something right! Celebrate in this! This is fantastic! Why pants, though? Some silly requirement of the idiot people, I assume.”

“Yes,” Morgan tells him.

“Well,” H sighs. “I shall convince them otherwise… but some things must be done for progress.” He begrudgingly takes the pants and starts to put them on.

“You’re putting them on backwards,” Morgan informs him. “The part with the zipper goes in front.”

“Stupid social constructs with their complicated meanings and messages,” H complains as he takes the pants off. “Why don’t they just come with an instruction manual?”

“Most people learn to put them on when they are very young.”

“Most people are stupid, and most people aren’t enlightened.”

“Well if they can do it, then _so can you_.”

* * *

After quite an ordeal, Morgan finally manages to get H to get fully dressed. H finds the clothes to be more comfortable than he would have expected, but the thought of dressing like this still makes him feel quite uncomfortable.

The two of them then head off with Dmitri and Alex to meet with Councilor Fontaine. As they arrive at the office Morgan instructs everyone on how to handle the meeting. “Let me handle the talking. Only speak when spoken to.”

“I’ll let you handle the public stupidity,” H replies.

When they get inside, Morgan approaches the receptionist again. “Do you ‘ave an appointment?” he asks her.

“Yes, I do,” Morgan replies.

“Very well, go right in.”

“‘Ello again,” Councilor Fontaine says as the crew enters the office. “I see you brought ze rest of your research team.”

“Yes, I have,” Morgan replies. “This is Dmitri and Alex, and this is Subject H. As you can see, he has been outfitted with a number of augmentations including, most recently, a complete conversion of his somatic cells to a biomechanical hybrid.” The councilor looks on with interest as Morgan pulls out a Pokeball and releases her Pikachu. “This overcomes many of the common problems associated with advanced augmentation, most notably the complete elimination of augmentation shock.” Morgan nods and her Pikachu gives H a shock which does not affect him at all.

“‘Ow much can ‘e withstand?” the councilor asks.

“Much more than we were capable of producing in a lab setting,” Morgan informs her.

“Really?” the councilor asks curiously.

Morgan nods again and her Pikachu slams into H with Volt Tackle. H is knocked over but he quickly hops to his feet and brushes himself off, completely fine.

“Impressive.”

“The exact mechanisms are somewhat proprietary,” Morgan tells the councilor. “But if allowed to present at the conference I’m sure we could acquire a number of supporters and investors.”

“So tell me about ze rest of your team ‘ere,” the councilor tells Morgan as she eyes the others in the room.

“This is Alex Hawthorne, our intern. As the most junior member of the team, she assists with a variety of tasks in the lab. She is learning very rapidly and I believe once her time with us is complete she will be very successful scientist in her own right. And this is Dmitri Smirnitsky. He has experience with a number of more obscure sciences and had been quite useful in the development of new augmentations.”

“What sort of sciences?” the councilor asks.

“Dmitri is an occult researcher, but his experience with ancient technology has proven essential in the discovery of new materials crucial to the development of this project.”

“What other work ‘ave you done prior to zis project?” the councilor asks, approaching Dmitri.

“Before this project, I was part of a small team that created an organic substance with unique properties. It is still being researched, but it has proven to be quite promising in its uses,” Dmitri tells her, referring to the warp goo he had created with H months earlier.

“Interesting,” says the councilor. She then turns her attention to Alex. “Alex, was it? What can you tell me about yourself? You’re an intern now, but where do you see yourself in five years?”

“Well, I’ve always wanted to be a Pokeball engineer,” Alex tells her. “Hopefully my experience with this project will help me achieve that dream.”

Satisfied with these answers, Councilor Fontaine turns her attention to H. “What can you tell me about your subject here?” she asks Morgan.

“We recruited him in Alliance space,” Morgan tells her. “He felt that this project would allow him to be improved.”

“So, ‘e volunteered just like zat?”

“Yes. I’ll admit that it was incredibly selfless of him to dedicate himself to this project,” Morgan tells her, holding back her contempt for H.

“So, tell me, ‘ow do you feel after ze experiments?” the councilor addresses H.

“Improved,” he tells her

“Improved ‘ow?”

“Everything has been improved. I have been improved fully. You may think that augmentations improve one aspect or another aspect. No, this augmentation improves you as a Human being. You become more than Human being, you become stronger, you become faster, you improve your ability to be improved! I have gained in strength, in sight, in mind. I have gained in all of these things and most of all I have gained in my ability to gain. And that is the perfection we wish to show.”

“So, what future applications do you see zis project ‘aving as it relates to galactic policy?” the councilor asks.

“It will revolutionize galactic policy simply from the fact that it can allow every single person, regardless of their position, to do something more, something they couldn’t have done before. It is the next transition of Human society.”

“Zat’s a controversial position you ‘ave zere.”

“That is why it must be discussed in politics.”

“You aren’t worried about zis falling into ze wrong hands?”

“Everything falls into the wrong hands. This is exactly why we are bringing this to the political court now so it can be discussed.”

“We’re trying to put it in the right hands,” Morgan adds.

“I will let you make your case at ze conference,” the councilor tells them. “I will acquire invitations for you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> At the time, I felt like this was one of the driest sessions of Spacemon that we'd had, but this one-session chapter was pretty popular with readers. No one did anything impulsive or crazy to spice things up in a session that mostly involved winging things, but looking back it was pretty enjoyable, and of course there were a few interesting/important things that happened. Dmitri doesn’t seem to be doing too well after his encounter with the mirror. That’s what you get for touching it THREE FREAKING TIMES! I was very interested in seeing how this plays out. Then there’s H. Here he acquired the Volt Absorb ability, among other things and it’s worked in with such flavor! I was really interested to see how H’s story continued to progress. And that leads me to the final thing. H became our ticket into the GGC!


	47. Profile 4: The Admiral

“Governor Yong, I advise you reconsider. There is a danger—”

“Nonsense! Between our defensive forces and your fleet, the traitors will not stand a chance!”

Admiral Alexandra Graves’ eyes narrowed as she glared at the image of the Romanov governor displaying on hologram projector on her desk.

“Need I remind you that the Supremacy has captured Mir Zimoy? With the capital gone, it is only a matter of time before they set their sights on your world; our intelligence suggests Troyva is their next major target.”

“If there is attack, we will drive them back. I will not hide like scared Lillipup from these rebels!”

The admiral gave Yong one last stern look. “Very well.”

Graves let out a short breath of frustration once the call ended. Boris Yong was a prideful fool. As the governor of Troyva, the capital world of Romanov Union Sector 16, he was one of the last major political figures of the Union still in power. The Supremacy had been capturing Romanov worlds at an increasing rate — most recently, the Romanov capital, Mir Zimoy — and yet Governor Yong refused to even _consider_ a contingency evacuation plan in the event that Troyva fell.

The admiral stepped away from her desk and turned her gaze to the viewport. Her fleet was in the process of forming a defensive blockade around Troyva. With the Union’s navy now nearly non-existent, its bulk either destroyed or defected to the Supremacy, the Federation had been ramping up its forces in the region. Despite the escalation, the Supremacy continued to win battle after battle and was growing in strength with each victory, forcing the Federation onto the defensive. Grand Admiral White had ordered the fleets to rally around key planets like Troyva in an attempt to keep them from falling into enemy hands. Graves watched as her ships slowly moved into position. As long as she was still standing, she would do everything in her power to ensure that Troyva remained under Federation control.

Once the blockade was fully formed, Graves crossed her office and stepped out onto the bridge. It was time to address the fleet. “Ensign Mattherson,” she said as she settled down into the command chair.

“Yes, um, what is it, Ma’am?” the chief communications officer responded in his typical nervous tone.

“Open a channel with the fleet.”

“Uh, right away, Ma’am!”

A few moments later, the main display lit up, signifying that the comm channel had been opened.

“Attention, all ships,” the admiral spoke over the comms, broadcasting across the entire fleet. “You know why we’re here. With the fall of Mir Zimoy, we are part of the last line of defense. We must not let Troyva fall into the hands of the Supremacy. We must do everything in our power to achieve that end.” Graves paused for a moment, choosing her next words carefully. She glanced over at Commander Maksimov, her Romanov second-in-command. “For the Romanovs among you, I understand that Governor Yong is widely unpopular, I understand that some of you may even sympathize with your countrymen who have joined the Supremacy, but we have a job to do. We must do our duty.”

With that, Graves ended the transmission. She once more gazed out upon the fleet. It was an impressive force, but the admiral knew that, even with their smaller numbers, the Romanov Supremacy was not to be trifled with. She could not afford to take her numbers advantage for granted.

Suddenly, the _Halberd_ ’s warning siren sounded. “Multiple incoming warp signatures detected,” the ship’s tactical intelligence announced. Graves hit a button on her chair arm, bringing the information up on screen. The tactical readout displayed a large destroyer dropping out of warp space, flanked by several cruisers and smaller gunships, as well as the unmistakable profiles of six Broadsword class heavy cruisers.

The Supremacy had arrived.

* * *

Warning lights flashed on the main display as the _Halberd_ was struck with another salvo of fire from the destroyer leading the Supremacy’s assault force; the dreadnought’s shields had ruptured in several locations.

“Defensive formation!” Admiral Graves barked over the comms. “Destroyers, move up and keep the command ship suppressed! I want a squadron of cruisers covering each destroyer! Frigates, keep those Broadswords occupied!”

The admiral watched as her ships began moving into position to counter the Supremacy’s force. The destroyers moved forward, putting a wall between the _Halberd_ and the enemy line of fire. The cruisers laid down suppressive fire on the Romanov gunships to keep them away from the destroyers. Meanwhile, the Federation frigates swarmed the Broadswords, keeping the Supremacy’s signature heavy cruisers away from the larger ships. The Supremacy used Broadswords to ram into ships and take them out of commission, so it was important to keep them at bay with smaller vessels capable of outmaneuvering them.

In response to Graves’ tactic, the Romanov force began shifting formation as well. The heavy cruisers that had once been a part of the Union navy moved up and began pulling on the Federation destroyers with newly mounted tractor beams, a favorite tool of the Supremacy, Graves had noticed. Tractor beams were mostly used for mining and capturing smaller ships, but the Supremacy used them as weapons in combat. While they weren’t capable of dragging the larger ships on their own, working together allowed them to force the destroyers to rotate out of firing position.

“We can’t do anything with these tractor beams interfering with our line of sight!” one of the captains reported in.

“Cruisers, reprioritize targets!” Graves ordered. “Take out those heavy cruisers!”

The order was followed by a barrage of fire, and one of the heavy cruisers’ shields popped.

“Ma’am, the main guns are ready to fire again!” the weapons officer reported.

“Excellent. Fire on that heavy cruiser while its shields are down!”

“You heard her! Light ‘em up!”

The _Halberd_ unleashed a massive salvo, completely annihilating the vulnerable cruiser. The Federation destroyer it had been pushing with its beam began to right itself, but not fast enough. A Broadsword plowed straight through the destroyed heavy cruiser, using its carcass as cover, and into the destroyer, cutting a large gouge through its hull with its plasma ram.

“We’re dead in the water, Ma’am!” the captain reported. It was the last thing he ever said, for seconds later, the ship exploded under a barrage from the Romanov command ship.

Graves let out an audible curse.

As the admiral reassessed the situation, the Supremacy destroyer swooped in close. Graves watched as several of her ships were pushed into each other. The Romanov ship was sweeping her fleet with its tractor beam as it passed. She could only guess that it was trying to force the Federation ships to effectively trip over each other.

“Fire on the command ship!” Graves ordered.

The cruisers near the Romanov destroyer opened fire upon it, but its commander responded quickly, using its tractor beam to pull the wreckage of a Broadsword that the _Halberd_ had taken out earlier in the battle into the line of fire, shielding the ship from damage. Whoever was leading this strike was quite clever, Admiral Graves had to admit.

“Main guns ready again, Ma’am!”

“Target the command ship!”

“Warp signatures detected,” the tactical intelligence reported.

“They are preparing jump,” Commander Maksimov announced. “Short-range, judging from power level.”

“They’re running away?” Ensign Mattherson asked as the Supremacy ships jumped away.

“No,” Graves said sternly. “They will be back. I suspect the commander is planning to use a hit-and-run approach. It’s what I would do with a smaller attacking force.”

“What is plan, Ma’am?” Maksimov asked.

“We regroup. Set up a defensive formation to best counter them when they return.”

Graves looked out over the fleet. The fight ahead would be a rough one.

* * *

Through the main viewport, Admiral Graves observed her fleet moving into their new formation. She had seen enough battles with the Supremacy to know that they would try to eliminate the defensive fleet before making a move on the planet, so she had ordered her ships to assume a defensive formation around the _Halberd_. Her command ship would be their major target; if they could take it out, the fleet would be in disarray.

Graves had arranged her remaining destroyers in a tight formation around the _Halberd_ to serve as a shield for the dreadnought. There was enough space between her ship and that defensive ring of destroyers for the enemy to jump into, and the admiral had a feeling the Romanov commander was crazy enough to try it, so she had filled that space with her light cruisers and frigates to make such a strategy impossible. That just left the heavy cruisers, which she had positioned to cover the Supremacist force’s likely attack vectors. Graves had enough ships to spare to ensure that when the Romanov ships returned, they would be met with significant firepower, no matter which angle they approached from.

“Uh … Ma’am?” Mattherson suddenly spoke up.

“Yes, what is it, Ensign?” the admiral asked curtly. “Out with it.” She was in no mood for his hesitance.

“Incoming transmission, Ma’am. Callsign _RSS Envy_.”

So, the enemy commander was calling.

“Put it through.”

“Yes, Ma’am!”

The image of a dark-haired Romanov naval officer with a thin goatee, wearing the Supremacy’s black and red dress uniform and standing before a black and red banner with a Honedge emblazoned on it, appeared on the main screen.

“This is Admiral Alexandra Graves of the _FNS Halberd_ ,” Graves introduced herself, staring the enemy commander down.

“Ah, yes, the _hero_ of Solace Prime … A _pleasure_. I am Captain Lee Heilovic of the Romanov Supremacy, commander of the _RSS Envy_.”

Graves hadn’t met the man in person, but she certainly recognized the name. He had been a decorated officer in the Union navy, and his name had gained more significance among the Federation once he had defected to the Supremacy.

“What, exactly, is it that you want, Captain?” Graves asked coldly. “This world is under the protection of the Galactic Federation. I advise you turn back at once.”

“Oh, I am afraid that is not going to happen, Admiral. What I want is the full, unconditional surrender of all Federation forces protecting Troyva, and for you to turn Governor Boris Yong over to me.”

Graves’ eyes narrowed. “You must be joking.”

“Do I look like I am joking, Admiral?”

He did not.

“You are in no position to be demanding my surrender, Captain. If you want Troyva, you’re going to have to take it.”

“Very well … _Admiral_.”

The feed cut off.

“Multiple warp signatures detected,” the tactical intelligence announced.

Graves reached for the comms. “All ships, prepare for battle!” she broadcasted across the fleet. “Be ready to open fire as soon as they drop out of warp space!”

The only problem was that the Romanov ships didn’t drop in where they were supposed to. The defensive ring of destroyers surrounding the _Halberd_ was lit up with enemy fire from the Romanov ships that had arrived safely out of the line of fire of the heavy cruisers.

“Ma’am, we can’t get a shot from here!” one of the heavy cruiser captains reported.

“They’re in our blind spot!” another spoke up.

“They have avoided every vector we prepared for,” Maksimov observed. “It is like they knew where our ships were ahead of jump.”

“How is that possible?” Graves asked. “No time to worry about that now.” She reached for the comms again. “Heavy cruisers, reposition! Protect the destroyers! Destroyers, try to blast as many of those Romanov ships as possible!”

By the time the heavy cruisers had repositioned to target the Supremacist ships, Graves had lost almost half of her destroyers. Heilovic’s remaining Broadswords pushed through the openings and began closing in on the _Halberd_ , plowing through any frigates and light cruisers in their way with their plasma rams.

“Frigates and light cruisers, focus on those Broadswords!” Graves barked over the comms. “Keep them off the _Halberd_!” The volume of ships within the remnant of the destroyer ring opened fire on the charging heavy cruisers, managing to slow most of then down. A well placed shot from one of the light cruisers detonated one of the Broadswords’ engines, and a second caused the whole thing to explode. Unfortunately, one of the Broadswords broke through, and grazed the _Halberd_ with its ram, tearing a hole in its hull.

“We’re losing atmosphere in section 12!” the chief engineering officer reported.

“Manage it the best you can, then prepare the warp drive for short-range jump!” the admiral ordered. “Main guns, prepare to fire, target the _Envy_!”

“Yes, Ma’am!”

The _Halberd_ unloaded, but only managed to land a glancing blow on Heilovic’s command ship.

“Uh, Admiral?”

“What is it now Mattherson?!” Graves shouted.

“Um, Governor Yong is requesting a personal evacuation immediately—”  
  
“I’m rather _busy_ at the moment.”

The damned fool. Graves had warned the governor several times, but he had blown her off.

“They are closing in!” Maksimov shouted as more Romanov cruisers moved in.

“I can see that, Commander,” Graves responded. She reached for the comms. “Make a short-range jump!” she ordered the chief engineering officer. “Get us clear of those Romanov ships!”

“You got it, Ma’am!”

The _Halberd_ slipped into warp space, giving the admiral a moment to think, finally. How had this happened? She had done everything right. The defensive formation was set up to target all likely vectors, yet Heilovic had avoided every single one. Commander Maksimov was right; they had to have known the positions of her ships ahead of time, but how?

Suddenly it clicked. It was the tractor beams. There was no other explanation. When the _Envy_ swept its tractor beam across her fleet, Heilovic hadn’t been trying to force her ships to collide, he was embedding some kind of homing signal! It seemed far-fetched, but it was the only thing that made sense, and Admiral Graves wouldn’t put it past the Supremacy to have that sort of technology.

Graves put her thoughts aside when the chief engineering officer announced they would be dropping back into real space. She watched through the main viewport as the _Halberd_ re-emerged. The sight that greeted her was not good. In the short time that the _Halberd_ had been in warp space, the Supremacy had made a huge dent in the fleet.

“We are losing too many ships!” Maksimov cried.

Graves made a quick tactical assessment. The commander was right. Heilovic had evened the odds too much. She was now waging a losing battle. To keep fighting now would only result in unnecessary loss of life.

“What do we do, Admiral?” Maksimov asked.

“We have no other choice, we must retreat,” Graves replied. She reached for the comms. “All ships,” the admiral broadcasted to her remaining ships. “Prepare to jump. Fall back to Federation forward command.”

The _Halberd_ ’s warp drive fired up once more and the ship jumped away. Troyva was lost.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am glad this one is finally done. For a good while I had no idea what I wanted to do for Graves’ profile, but I knew she needed to have one. Talking with the GM in the early stages of planning Profiles, we agreed it ought to be a battle, specifically against Heilovic to give him some more “screen time” to remind the readers that he’s still a threat since this piece is inserted in the middle of Volume 2 in the reading order. Plus he’s such a fantastic antagonist. It actually wasn’t until quite recently, once the GM and I had put significant thought into worldbuilding for unrelated reasons, that he came to me with an idea of what the battle actually should look like. It took a while for me to get myself to start working on this because it was originally the GM’s vision, but once I got myself to begin, I managed to see my own vision of how it should be written, and it all came together.
> 
> Overall, I think this Profile is pretty straightforward, but it has some great storytelling. It shows off both Federation and Supremacy military tactics, shows off the commanding and strategic strengths of both Graves and Heilovic, and is hands down one of my favorite space combat scenes I’ve written. It’s a whole different ballgame to write it from the perspective of the commander of such a large fleet, even from the fleet scenes I wrote for Seeing Red. I think it perfectly captures how great Graves is under pressure. Even though she lost the battle, this piece really shows just how strong she is.
> 
> There are also some fun cameos and references in here if you can spot them.


	48. Tempore Ex Machina, Part 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The team launches their mission to retrieve the Eye of Aether.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As with the last two part of this mini-series, this one was written by the GM (although I helped right a big chunk of this one), but I have uploaded it here with his permission. It was actually written before the start of Volume 3, but it was inserted here, in the middle of Volume 2, as that is where it falls in the timeline.

Aarn Hondo, veteran smuggler captain, approached the rendezvous point; he had spent the last three months selecting from his small fleet of _acquired vessels_ the most appropriate ship for this mission, and outfitting it with all the necessary add-ons he could find.

Already docked at the station were a group of Alliance transports.  Commander Rodriguez and his “Drapion” Company were timely as expected, and, with any luck, the hacker prodigy, Meta, was still with them.

But his client, Gilgamesh, had yet to arrive.  Hondo twiddled his fingers as the Skarmory perched on his shoulder pecked anxiously at the bulkhead.  The plan they had formed for the mission explicitly called for his presence.  Meta had insisted on reviewing and overhauling the plan at least five times by now; she turned out to be exceedingly clever, so they all indulged her.  Upon discovering Gilgamesh’s telepathic abilities, and of the existence of Human psionics in general, she had become quite obsessive with her research on countering the subject.  She was convinced psionics would make up a component in Mr. Silver’s defenses.  “It’s what _I_ would do,” Hondo recalled her saying.  “And, besides, better to be prepared, than not.”

Hondo guided the _GCS Clavion_ into dock with the station.  He supposed they would review the plan while they waited for Gilgamesh to arrive, especially if Meta had decided she needed to revise it another six times since their last meeting.

* * *

“Hang on,” began Rodriguez.  “I’m still not sure I understand …”

Meta stared at him from across the war room table, her eyes emitting a faint, icy glow.  He had managed to acquire her a whole suite of high tech equipment and cybernetic augmentations, as part of her compensation for this operation.  Some of those items were secret prototypes, _all_ of them were hardened against external access, at Meta’s absolute insistence.  She had even turned down a few neural enhancements because she could not guarantee they couldn’t be used against her in the future.  She had convinced Rodriguez it would help her keep his men alive during the mission, but it was still a tall order; some of that stuff was downright _dangerous_ in the hands of someone like her.

“Why do we need to capture one of the Romanov Cruisers?  Wouldn’t it be easier— and safer— to conserve our forces for the main base?” he continued.

Meta let out a long sigh.  “Because, _Commander_ , I don’t know anything about Mr. Silver’s system architecture.  I’ll need a code sample from a friendly uplink.  And _Romanov ships are shoddy pieces of work_.  You get me one of them, and I get you a technical readout of the base.”  Her patience was wearing thin.

“Okay,” Rodriguez caught on.  “Then the next step is … “rapid tactical entry.”

“Exactly,” said Meta.  “Romanov Broadsword class heavy cruisers come equipped with plasma-edge ramming blades.  So, we fly straight into the station, and board through the hole.”

Rodriguez nodded along.  It was crazy, but her original plan involved jury rigging orbital drop pods and launching them at key points on the enemy station.  Rodriguez had put his foot down on that one; he was not going to throw his men away on a reckless suicide run like that.  “From there we split up into two forces: a small group to reach the Eye, and a larger force to provide a distraction and create as much chaos as possible.”

“And I expect ...” Hondo spoke up.  “That this small party will consist of myself, you, the good commander, and-”

The doors opened then, and in walked Gilgamesh.

“And the Sinai, of course!” finished Hondo.  “Your timing is perfect, as usual!”

Gilgamesh walked straight to the table and took a seat, focused on the task at hand.  “I fear this quest will be gravely difficult, if Mr. Silver is indeed here.”

“ _If_ he’s actually here,” Meta interjected.  “I’ve been thinking a lot about that, actually.”

“Come now,” said Hondo.  “We all saw the communique: ‘I will be there to personally ensure the project’s success.’  Seems pretty clear to _me_.”

“Assuming it’s accurate, Captain,” she replied.  “Always ask yourself: _what_ do you know, and _why do you think you know it?_  What if we were _meant_ to see that message?”

Hondo frowned.  He didn’t like where this was going.  “Child, even if what you say wasn’t utter _nonsense_ , would it not be wise to assume it _is_ Mr. Silver, and prepare for the worst?  One can never be over prepared.”

Meta didn’t take the bait.  “You’re half right.  There’s no such thing as being too prepared, but you can still prepare wrong.  Like, if you make assumptions that a certain condition is true, and build your entire plan around that assumption.  You could spend months constructing a really elaborate plan, only to have it completely fall apart because that condition turns out to be false.” 

Rodriguez had given up trying to follow along at this point.  Judging by the gazes from half the table, so had most people.

“I guess what I’m trying to say,” she continued.  “Is that we need to consider any _disadvantages_ we might have if Mr. Silver is _not_ here.  For instance, are any of you planning on capturing him?”

Hondo and Gilgamesh looked at each other.  They had considered it as a side objective, but ultimately decided that it would be too difficult to go after both him and the Eye at once.  “No.”

They spent the next half hour brainstorming potential scenarios before Rodriguez interrupted them.

“Look, this is fun and all, but don’t you think it’s time to go?  Now that we’re all assembled, we’re on company time.”

Gilgamesh stood up and said: “Very well, Commander.  It is time.”

Hondo breathed a sigh of relief, while Meta just sat there pouting.

“Alright!” Rodriguez bellowed as he stood and turned to face the troops.  “Ladies and gentlemen, you know your mission.  Get out there, charge your rifles, check your Pokeballs, and keep your hands and feet inside the ride at all times!”

* * *

Everything had gone smoothly so far.  The Clavion had sent a transmission requesting docking access to deliver supplies, and it had been intercepted by one of the Romanov Broadswords.

All according to plan.

Hondo had done an excellent job of playing the Romanov guards.  He was crude enough to get himself and the crates— all filled with Drapion company— sent to the security room, while maintaining enough tact to not press an encounter.

Meta, meanwhile, had simply walked into the control room.  Hacking the security feeds to playback a 30 second loop was child’s play.  She didn’t do it.  Avoiding the patrols was simple enough when she could track their routes in real time.  She made no such effort.  She merely walked in, synced up to one of the consoles, and simulated a reactor leak.  Once all of the command staff had fled the room, Meta sealed the blast doors and deactivated her shiny new personal cloaking device: she loved Commander Rodriguez.

She also completely hated him, but that was beside the point.

* * *

“That’s our cue, boys!” Rodriguez shouted, opening his crate from the inside.

The ship’s alarm had distracted the guards, giving Drapion Company an opportunity to take them out before they regained their wits.  Their Pokemon had made short work of the opposition.

“I guess this means Meta made it to the rally point, eh?” asked Rodriguez.

“You say that as if there was any doubt to begin with, my friend!” replied Hondo as he holstered his laser pistol.

“We must remain cautious,” Gilgamesh warned, climbing out of his crate.  “I sense much confusion and activity outside these walls.”

“Well, that is the plan, no?” asked Hondo as he took out his communicator.  “Meta!  My friend!  How are things on your end?”

“Hold on, I’m clearing a path for you,” the device crackled.  Ten seconds later, one of the doors clicked open.  “There.  Head through the series of unlocked doors.  They’ll take you directly to the control room and avoid the guards.”

“You heard her, boys!” roared Rodriguez.  “Time to move out!”

* * *

Meta was already downloading the station schematics when the group entered the control room.  “You made it.  Excellent!” she said, beaming each of them a map.  “I managed to find the Eye’s position.  It’s located here in the upper heart of the facility.”  She pointed to the spot on the map.  “From what I can tell so far, it appears to be powering … _some_ kind of machinery.  But it’s _not_ providing power to the station; _that’s_ coming in from the generators here and here.  I’m afraid I’m at a loss as to what this thing actually does.”

“In the hands of Mr. Silver, nothing good I fear,” Gilgamesh spoke up.  “In my recent travels, I have uncovered evidence of-”

“Hold that thought, I have the system now,” Meta interrupted.  “Let’s start this party … _and_ make sure we have no _uninvited guests_.”  She fed a few inputs into the terminals, and vented every room onboard the ship except for the one they were standing in.  As the vessel turned into position they witnessed a few of the engineering staff float away outside the viewports, grasping in vain at the empty void.

Gilgamesh heaved his shoulders, and sighed quietly.  Meta just nonchalantly shrugged and said: “They could have been a problem for us later.  Now they won’t be.”

And the ship’s plasma segments activated, giving the vessel the appearance of a glowing blade against the cold vacuum.  As the engines set to full power, it began to thrust into the heart of the large space station before them.

“Brace yourselves,” yelled Rodriguez.

* * *

The four of them raced through the corridor.  The distraction had worked perfectly; the soldiers of Drapion Company had rather loudly gone down the more obvious main path to the Eye, drawing all the attention of the security forces present.  Meta had managed to activate no less than a dozen alarms: everything from reactor leaks to hull breach signals were set off.  It seemed very likely to her that the enemy would see through them as the distractions that they were, but she might as well trigger them anyway.  With any luck it would fool some of the guards, delaying them for a minute or two until Mr. Silver, or whoever was coordinating the defenses here, reestablished contact.

They could hear the fighting all the way from the other end of the section.  The distinctive sounds of blasters, Fire Blasts, Ice Beams, and explosions were only slightly muffled by the facility’s many titanium walls.  They could even feel the occasional Earthquake rock the station as they ran.  They kept pace until they hit a fork in the hallway.

“Which way do we go?” asked Rodriguez.

“Let’s see,” said Meta as she synced her Pokedex into the system.  “The Eye is down the hallway on the right … and the left leads to … whatever they're applying it to.  I bet if I head over there I can figure out what they’re using it for, maybe find a way to stop it and deal some damage.  Whoa-”

Suddenly she became fixated on her Pokedex.

“These readings don’t make any sense.  And my equipment’s not faulty so … it could be a trap, and I’m only seeing what they want me to see, but … I’d be very interested to know what’s going on up there.”

"Alright, we’ll split up, two and two,” suggested Rodriguez.

“No offense, but I’m more efficient on my own,” she replied, activating her cloaking device.

And, like that, she was gone.

* * *

The hallway opened up into a massive chamber.  Their footsteps echoed around the walls as they entered.

In the center floated an immense sphere, comprised of rock, metal, and crystal.  It looked very strange, as if it were both natural and artificial.  Gilgamesh could feel the aura of power radiating from it.  “This must be Eye of Aether,” he remarked in awe.

“It is _magnificent!_ ” Hondo breathed.  “I wonder, how much is it _worth?_ ”

“Hey, I - uh - hate to ruin the moment …” Rodriguez interrupted.  “But we’ve got company.”

Six armed guards entered the chamber from the opposite side.  Each sent out a Bisharp as they fanned out.

Rodriguez quickly raised his laser rifle and fire off two very precise bursts of fire, taking two of the guards down as they moved in.  “Send out your Pokemon!” he shouted to his compatriots.  “I’ll keep you covered!”

Hondo took a few steps back and released his trusty Skarmory while Gilgamesh chose to use his Malamar.  “Use Steel Wing!” Hondo commanded his Pokemon.  “Take those guards down!”  The Armor Bird Pokemon flew forward at top speed and slashed past the line of advancing guards, taking a couple more down with its razor-sharp wings.

Gilgamesh then telepathically commanded his Malamar to attack one of the Bisharps as the guards finally finished processing the situation and began to return fire.  The Malamar hovered forward and lashed out at the Bisharp with one of its tentacles, breaking through its metallic armor and delivering a nasty blow.  Viewing the Malamar as the largest threat in the room, the guards began to focus their fire on it.

In the meantime, the Bisharps closed the gap.  Two moved in on Hondo’s Skarmory and swiped at it with their sharp blades.  The swift metallic bird dodged out of the way of one, but was unable to avoid the second hit.  Two more went after Gilgamesh’s Malamar, both delivering pretty decisive blows.  The remaining two continued to march forward toward Hondo, Gilgamesh, and Rodriguez, their armor shimmering like polished iron.

Rodriguez fired off a few more bursts at the approaching Pokemon, then reached for his Pokeball.  “Your up, Drapion!” he belted out.  The Ogre Scorpion Pokemon snapped its claws together menacingly as it emerged.  “Use Earthquake!”  The Drapion charged forward at the line of advancing men and Pokemon.  The entire station rocked violently as the powerful Pokemon unleashed its attack.

* * *

Meta ran up the stairs.  Her cloaking device completely masked her both visually and electronically, but it didn’t hide sound.  Not that it mattered: her new leg implants, in addition to allowing her to land great falls unharmed, also rendered her footsteps silent.

She went up to the door, and spliced into the locking mechanism to get a view from the room’s security camera.  Once she saw the room was empty, she unlocked the door and opened it.

She relocked it behind her once she entered.

It appeared to be some kind of control room.  Consoles and terminals lined the walls, but they were boring, expected fare.  Her cybernetic eyes found a line of heavy cable hidden behind a panel, and followed it along the wall and under the floor, up into some kind of machine in the center of the room.  A six-and-a-half second analysis confirmed that it was not linked with the rest of the station’s systems.

“How _curious_ ,” Meta whispered to herself.  “Tell me more about yourself, my shiny little friend.”  It appeared to be some kind of case on closer inspection, protecting the no doubt _juicy_ components inside.  One side had an embedded terminal, likely for development and testing of … _whatever_ this thing was.

“ _How do you work?_ ”

She decloaked and linked her Pokedex into the terminal.  Immediately, it lit up and began displaying a stream of code.  Her Pokedex lit up as well; it appeared the machine was attempting to access it through the password system.  Meta smirked.  Passwords were usually easy to bypass because most people had pathetic passwords that were easy to guess.  But Meta was not “most people.”  Having her own substantial experience with brute force input routines, she deliberately designed her passwords to be difficult to guess for both humans _and_ machines.

But she was curious to see what this machine did, so she did nothing but watch the terminal.

The code on the terminal called a single function.  Simple enough: take some input, do something, and return an output.  This particular function, for its input, took another function, one Meta wasn’t quite sure what it was.  She could find no record of it in the database.

Then the program did something rather peculiar.  A single line of text displayed itself on the screen: it was her Pokedex password!  How could it have known that?

The function continued its operation; it seemed to be writing a new piece of code and saving it to the machine’s database.  This new function was quite simple in that it just displayed her password.  The astounding part, however, was that it was identical to the previously unknown function used in the first one.

“ _What the actual shit?!?_ ” Meta screamed at the terminal screen.  This machine had somehow run a program before it existed, and then used the results it generated to _make_ that program!  She stumbled backwards.  The implications of this were _enormous!_

What Meta did with computer systems was merely exploit weaknesses and vulnerabilities left behind by people who were sloppy or stupid.  Sometimes she even manually rearranged the hardware components in order to manipulate the functionality of a device to her uses.  Everything she could do was stoppable by _actual security_ implemented by smart people who _knew what they were doing_ and actually _gave a damn_.

But … but _this_ … this made _every_ security system _worthless_.  Something like this could bypass it all … _instantly_.  Meta decided she had to have one for herself … or six.

Suddenly she heard voices coming from outside.  She hastily reset the machine and reactivated her cloaking device.

“ …and, by the way, how _have_ your limbs been doing Councillor?” said one voice.  “I am _quite_ familiar with cybernetic replacements …”

“ _Ach!_  I vill manage.  But _ze car!_  If I ever find ze brat who hijacked me, I vill --”

“Patience, Councillor.  After all, what is a mere skycar, compared to this magnificent cyber-weapon?”

The first door opened, and a blond man with some serious cybernetic augmentations walked into the room.  He looked more machine than man!  Could this be Mr. Silver?

The second man following him, judging from the accent, conversation, and recovering injuries, was most probably Councillor Robert Heinkel.  Meta had made friends with his skycar back on Xiaou a few months ago.

“Mr. Silver does make good on his promises, I vill give him zat.”

“Indeed,” the cyborg nodded in agreement.  “And I’ve known him to be quite thorough in his dealings.”

So, this wasn’t Mr. Silver.  Who was he then?  Was Mr. Silver even here in the base?

The two of them walked over to the machine case, and the cyborg opened it.  He took out a sort of rod.  One end appeared to contain a brand of tech Meta didn’t recognize.  The other end seemed to be comprised of a liquid alloy.

“One cyber weapon, as promised,” said the cyborg. "Mr. Silver sends his gratitude for your contribution.”

Heinkel’s eyes lit up as he held the device.  “This should liven up ze conference, no?”

“Best not to keep them waiting then,” the cyborg grinned, and Heinkel left.  The cyborg closed the door after him, then turned around and began casually pacing across the room, humming a quirky tune.  “ _And then there were two_.”

…

_Shit!_

Before Meta could react, the cyborg raised his hand and unleashed a small ionic blast, knocking her on the ground and disabling her cloaking device.  Her vision went static for a few seconds as the electricity coursed through her cybernetic eyes.

“But … how did --” she stuttered.

“How did I know you were here?  Well, I knew you were coming …” he replied.  “And, while your little friends made their way to the Eye, I knew that … someone like _you_ couldn’t resist investigating … a place like _this_ …” he gestured to the room and to the now empty case.

“Ah, but where are my _manners?_  You may refer to me as ‘I’ …”

It took Meta half a second to recall the communique.  “ **I** will be there to personally ensure the project’s success,” she recited.

I chuckled.  “The name does have it’s quirks.”

Thinking quickly, she tossed out her Pokeball, releasing her Magnezone.  She only had one shot at this; after that, her odds of success would diminish exponentially.

“Magneto: Zap Cannon.”

The magnet Pokemon charged up the electrical attack and hit its target.  Meta expected I’s body to collapse from the augmentation shock, but he simply took a step forward, smiling.

“An electrical attack against a cyborg.  Clever.  Unfortunately, as you can see, I don’t particularly mind.”

I sent out his own Pokemon, a Rhyperior.  “Use Drill Run,” he commanded.  The Magnezone went down in one super-effective hit.

Meta gritted her teeth.  She _hated_ losing.

“Oh, don’t look so disappointed,” I looked down at her.  “You’ve done _very well_ to make it this far!  I’m actually impressed!”

Meta managed a smirk.  “I could say the same, I suppose,” she glanced at the machine case.  “That’s some _interesting_ tech you got there.”

“You had fun playing with it, I see.  Figure out how it works, yet?”  asked I casually as he fiddled with the terminal.

“ … I _think_ so …” she pondered.  She would do anything to stall for time at this point.   _What did she still have at her disposal?_  “It looks like it calls functions before they’re defined … but how is that possible?”  

I looked out the viewport into the chamber housing the Eye.  “Did Gilgamesh tell you what the Eye of Aether does?”

“He said a lot of things … Too much to believe if you ask me.  Revive the dead, transmute material, see the future, solve any riddle … huh, that’s sort of like generating any password, right?”

I grinned back at her.  It was kinda creepy, given that half of his face appeared to be mechanical.  She would continue to play his game for now.  She had her infiltration kit, two remaining Pokeballs, and her amazing technical skillset.  Now she just needed more time …

“It seems to do too many things at once, though, that’s the problem.  Unless --”

“Unless the Eye only has _one_ property, which can be applied in many different ways,” I said.  He was having too much fun playing this game with her.  “Can you guess what that property might be?”

She really should have been devoting all of her focus at that point towards developing her escape plan.  But it was too enticing; she couldn’t resist the puzzle I had presented to her.  And once she thought about it, it became clear to her.

“The answer is --”

* * *

“It’s Time,” breathed Gilgamesh in awe.

“Oh?” asked Hondo, who had just checked the last Romanov guard to make sure he was down.  “Time for what?”

“No, _it_ is _Time!_ ” cried Gilgamesh, pointing up at the Eye of Aether.  He had just come to the revelation.   “I could not see it before, but my eyes are now opened.”

“Hold up,” interjected Rodriguez.  “You trying to tell me that thing’s some kind of time machine?”

“ … Not quite.  At least, not as you understand it.”  Gilgamesh closed his eyes and felt the aura radiating from it.  It was _powerful_.  “I’m not sure I truly understand it, myself, but its aura tells me it is in tune with the forces of Time.”

“Yes yes, very nice,” Hondo said rather quickly.  “Now, how are we going to _move_ this thing?”  He had a glint of avarice in his eye.

It was a fair question.  The Eye of Aether was far larger than the three of them could physically carry, and about half of their Pokemon were worn out from the previous battle.  They were also at a loss as to how to get it down in the first place.  “Any ideas?” Hondo asked.

Gilgamesh kneeled in place and just sat there for a few moments.  “Perhaps we must-”

All of a sudden, an attack came from behind; two new enemies in full power armor wielding Aegislashes charged in.  Romanov Knight Commandos: Gilgamesh hadn’t sensed their presence!

Rodriguez, whose Pokemon was already fainted, simply raised his laser rifle and took aim.  Hondo looked to his Skarmory, which still had some fight left in it.  “Night Slash!”  
The steel bird flew in and swiped past both the opponents, but their armor appeared to absorb most of the impact.

Gilgamesh sent out his Slowbro and telepathically commanded it to use Thunder Wave.  The Hermit Crab Pokemon let out a stunning jolt of electricity and hit one of the Knight Commandos dead on, but it did little more than spark harmlessly off his energy shield.

Rodriguez fired a volley of lasers from his rifle at the other one, but he managed to deflect most of the bolts with his Aegislash.

The pair then raised their swords and leveled them at Slowbro, and a twin Shadow Ball strike took it down instantly.  The Knight Commandos raised their shields, and moved in to advance …

* * *

These Knight Commandos _would not_ go down!  Rodriguez gritted his teeth. No matter how many times he fired on them, the Commandos did not appear to be slowing down at all.  Rodriguez would not have believed their endurance had he not witnessed it with his own eyes.

“This is getting us nowhere!” Hondo shouted from behind cover.  His Skarmory had long since fainted and he had resorted to taking the occasional potshot from his hiding spot.

Rodriguez glanced over at the smuggler captain and at Gilgamesh.  While the smuggler captain was hiding behind his cover, the Sinai monk was exposed as he expertly commanded his Gardevoir with his mind.  The Embrace Pokemon gracefully weaved her way through the battlefield, dodging the attacks of the Knight Commandos.  One of the Commando’s took a swing at the Gardevoir with his Aegislash, but she teleported away, then unleashed a massive blast of stored up energy.  Unfortunately it was still not enough.

Rodriguez realized that Hondo was right.  They weren’t gaining any ground and couldn’t take much more of this.  He needed to do something.  He cast aside his now-drained rifle, and pulled out his final grenade.

He charged forward at one advancing Knight Commandos, dodging his attacks as he passed.  Then, he activated the grenade and jammed it between the sections of the Commando’s armor.  Rodriguez quickly dove behind cover as the grenade detonated.  The sound of the explosion was quickly followed by several loud clanks as the remains of the power armor hit the floor, coated in what was left of the Commando.

Rodriguez picked himself up to see the remaining Knight Commando charging toward him, Aegislash raised.  He knew there was no way he could avoid the hit.  Just before the blade made contact, the Commando stumbled and missed Rodriguez by a hair.  The commander could feel the rush of air as the blade whizzed past his head and instead struck the Knight Commando in the leg.

Rodriguez looked over at Gilgamesh to see the monk with his hand raised, blasting the Commando’s mind with psionic energy.  The aging Sinai man nodded in his direction.

While Gilgamesh’s actions had saved Rodriguez’s life, it did little to slow the Commando down.  The heavily armored Romanov soldier quickly regained his balance and set his sights on the Sinai monk. He took a few swift steps forward and threw his Aegislash directly at Gilgamesh.

The Royal Sword Pokemon slashed through the air at surprising speed, shrouding itself in shadowy energy as it neared the monk.  Then it stopped.  The blade pierced through the heart of Gilgamesh’s Gardevoir, who had teleported herself into its path in order to protect her trainer.

Rodriguez had seen many casualties in the field before, and watching Pokemon die was always rough.  This time was no different.  The Gardevoir cried out for an agonizing second before it collapsed to the floor in a pool of its own blood.  To his credit, Gilgamesh maintained an air of focus on the battle, but the commander knew deep down the old man had been shaken.

There was no time to mourn, however, as the Aegislash began to float up out of the hole it made in the lifeless Pokemon and back into the hand of the advancing Knight Commando.  Recognizing the severity of their situation, Rodriguez decided it was time to move. “We need to get out of here!” the commander shouted to his companions, then he began running toward the exit on the far side of the room with Gilgamesh and Hondo close behind.

As the trio neared their destination, the doors slid open, revealing a blond cyborg so augmented that Rodriguez almost mistook him for a bot.  His hands sparked dangerously.

“Wait … I _know_ you!” Gilgamesh’s eyes went wide.  A second later he frowned in confusion.  “But … you’re not --”

“No.  I’m afraid you don’t know me,” replied I, as he raised one of his hands.

And a blast of lightning sparked out.  Gilgamesh was launched backwards as volts of electricity coursed through his body.

Rodriguez ran back to where the old man landed and knelt beside him.

“You must ... run,” Gilgamesh managed to whisper with his dying breath. “Find them…” And then he was gone, leaving the commander with a telepathic image of five people he did not recognize.

And so Gilgamesh became one with the Void.

* * *

“I recognized them,” Hondo spoke softly.  It had been a harrowing ordeal, and the two of them had only just barely escaped with their lives.

“Oh yeah?” Rodriguez breathed; there was not much room in the escape pod.  “Figures the old man was trying to tell us something.  Probably important.”

“Bah,” grunted Hondo.  It would be a while before the pod reached the designated extraction zone.  “You really think a bunch of kids can help?”

“He must have had his reasons.  I’m still under contract, so whatever you want to do from here, I’ll follow.”

Hondo sighed; he had a feeling he wouldn’t be able to just walk away from this one.  Something in the monk’s eyes had told him this was bigger than any of them.  “They may indeed just be our last hope …”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was one hell of a finale for this miniseries. More of Meta being ridiculous, more fun party banter, lots of action, and a crazy plot reveal. The puzzle of what "I" actually meant. Guess what letter in the alphabet is right before I. Yup... This is I, another of Armstrong's clones. The GM introduced him as a character with the hope of finally finding a way to break H. And of course we also have the death of Gilgamesh. The GM had planned to kill him off from the beginning of this miniseries. His death is meant to give the player characters motivation.
> 
> On another note, "Tempore Ex Machina" roughly translates to "time from the machine" or "the time machine." The GM felt that he may have given us too big of a challenge at the end of Volume 2, which we will come to soon enough as I reupload the series here, so he wanted to supply us with what he felt was an appropriate narrative tool.


	49. Volume 2, Chapter 16: The Nightmare

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Helix crew ventures into the Galactic core following the lead from the Mirrored Temple.

On the bridge of the _UAS Helix_ , the crew discusses their plan for the next month before the Galactic Governance Conference. Not one for spending much time relaxing, Morgan is insistent that the crew spend the time tracking down one of their leads. “We have an entire month, so we might as well do something productive in that time,” she tells her crewmates.

“I want to pursue the lead from the Mirrored Temple to the galactic core,” Dmitri replies. “Something has been calling to me and I just want to confront it.”

“We can’t go _there_ ,” Alex tells him, a distressed look appearing on her face.

“Why not?” Morgan asks her.

“It’s _evil_ ,” she quickly responds.

“Why do you think it’s evil?” Morgan asks.

“To be fair, it was the only dark path leading from the mirror. Seems evil to me,” Shane remarks.

“Because it is! We _can’t_ go there!” Alex cries, continuing her argument.

“But Alex, it was you who wanted to go to the other Mirrored Temple in the first place. Isn’t this important to you?”

“And look what happened! I got your Pokemon killed and we could have been brainwashed by that… that _thing!_ ”

“But now we know what we’re up against.” Morgan steps closer to Alex. “We’ll be prepared. Sometimes we have to face danger to get close to the things that matter.”

“But what if we’re not? What if it’s worse? What if…” Alex trails off for a moment, as if choking on her words. “What if I don’t want to know anymore? I can’t lose anyone else… not again.”

Morgan hesitates. It isn’t just that Alex doesn’t want them to get hurt; the girl’s own resolve is faltering as well. “We’ll be safe, I promise. And…” Morgan lowers her voice until it is almost a whisper. “I can’t pretend to know what this is like. But I think it will hurt more to have come this far and give up than to keep going and find the truth.”

“But what if the truth hurts more than not knowing?” Alex asks, a pained expression on her face.

“Then at least you know you were strong enough to face it. Pain is part of life, too.”

“But I’ve had too much… I don’t want to feel the pain anymore.”

“If we go to the center of the Galaxy, you have the chance to end this. You’ll have a scar when this is over, but scars fade. Would you rather have an open wound for the rest of your life?”

“Will it make the pain go away?”

“Yes. Not right away, but soon.”

“Do you promise?”

“I promise.” Morgan squeezes Alex’s shoulder reassuringly.

“Okay…” says Alex, a spark of hope returning to her eyes. “I think I- I think **_we_** can do this.”

“That’s the spirit.” Morgan turns to Minerva. “Take us to Federation space.”

* * *

The _Helix_ drops out of warp in Federation space, making a brief stop before heading for the coordinates in the galactic core to break up the long journey. After the routine inspection required for ships entering Federation space, Morgan suggests that they wait a bit before making another long warp jump. “We don’t want to run the risk of warp madness,” she explains.

“Can we stop on one of the planets here then?” Alex asks.

“Sure,” Morgan tells her.

The particular system the crew finds themselves in has only three planets. There is a densely populated volcanic world as well as an ocean world and an arboreal world, both of which are completely uninhabited.

“Which one do you want to land on?” Minerva asks.

“That one,” Alex tells her, pointing to the ocean world on the nav chart.

“You sure, kid?” Minerva asks. “The chart says it’s pretty rainy.”

“I like the rain,” Alex tells her.

“Alright.”

Minerva brings the ship in and sets down on a large rocky island. Alex immediately disembarks from the _Helix_ and heads out into the rain with Dmitri and Morgan close behind. Shane chooses to stay behind to continue messing around with his warp drive while H is under strict orders from Armstrong to rest and recuperate from the procedure to avoid any complications.

Alex attempts to break away from the group and go off on her own, but finds that the others are sticking close to her. Dmitri eventually goes off and releases his Gyarados into the sea, commanding it to help him find some wild Pokemon. Alex thinks this might be her chance to get away, but notices that Morgan continues trailing behind her.

“Why are you following me?” she asks Morgan, turning around and looking right at her.

“It could be dangerous out here,” Morgan says. “I just wanted to make sure you’re okay.”

“I can take care of myself,” Alex responds. “I just need to be alone for a bit, okay?”

“Alright… if you’re sure. I’ll be on the ship if you need anything.” Morgan turns around and heads back to the _Helix_ , eager to be out of the rain.

Alex finds a spot near a cliff overlooking the ocean, then sits down on a rock and stares out into the waves. After the horrific experience she had in the Mirrored Temple, her resolve was shaken. She had felt afraid of what she might find if she continues to pursue her father’s trail. The thought of whatever lurks in the center of the Galaxy had filled her with absolute dread, but Morgan had restored her faith. Doing nothing is the worst thing she can do now. She had dedicated too much of her life to this and had come too far to turn back now.

She pulls a Pokeball of her belt and stares at it. Inside rests the Pokemon which she had named Leviathan, the massive sea monster she had captured on Messina. She had been worried to use it before, afraid that it wouldn’t listen to her, but she will need its help if they are going to the galactic core. Two Pokemon had died at the Mirrored Temple and, despite everyone telling her otherwise, Alex still blames herself for their deaths. “No more,” she says to herself as she tries to push the pangs of guilt aside. “No one else dies…”

Alex stands up and releases Leviathan from its ball. The rain turns from a drizzle to a downpour as the giant beast emerges before her, floating above the ground and looking down at her. She reaches out to it, the tips of her finger brushing against the underside of its jaw as it backs away from her with a confused look.

“I need your help,” Alex says to the creature, unsure if it can even understand her. She reaches out for it again and this time it doesn’t back away. She begins petting the giant Pokemon and it slowly creeps closer to her. “I want to be friends.”

The Pokemon lowers itself down into the ocean, its eyes now level with Alex. She reaches out with both arms and hugs the giant creature to the best of her ability. “If we’re going to battle together, then we need to train,” Alex tells the Pokemon as she steps away from it. “Show me what you can do! Use Thunder on that rock over there!”

The Pokemon just looks down at her, as if wondering why this tiny little creature is telling it what to do. “We’re going to a dangerous place and we need to work together,” Alex tells it. “Please.” Leviathan continue to look down at her and it becomes apparent to her that she needs to try something else. “I know, I can show you! C’mon out Anubis!”

The Lucario emerges from his ball and looks expectantly at Alex. “Anubis, use Bone Rush on that rock and show Leviathan how we train!” The Pokemon rushes forward with his aura-bone and hits it against a large rock but it doesn’t really do anything. Seeing this, Leviathan begins to lose interest. “You can do better than that!” Alex shouts enthusiastically. “Try again, Anubis!” The Lucario charges the rock once again and this time he cracks it right in two. Seeing this, Leviathan’s attention is once again focused on the girl and her Pokemon, “Great job, Anubis! Now it’s your turn Leviathan; use Thunder!”

Leviathan summons a giant blast of thunder which destroys rocks in a wide radius. “Just try to hit one rock now!” Alex tells it. It tries again and this time releases a much more focused blast. "That’s a good start, but let’s keep trying to get a more controlled attack!”

* * *

Back on the _Helix_ , Morgan works on training her own Pokemon, but she is keeping a good eye out for her crewmates to return. She knows Dmitri can take care of himself, so she’s really only worried about Alex. After a while, she sees Dmitri return. He seems in high spirits, having just successfully captured a Tentacruel. Alex returns a while later, completely soaked to the bone, but her mood seems to have improved greatly.

With everyone back aboard, Minerva takes off and brings the crew to the only civilized planet in the system for a supply run before they head for the galactic core. The surface of the planet is mostly molten rock, but several heat-shielded cities on stilts dot the landscape. After picking up some TMs and other supplies, the crew returns to the ship and Minerva brings them into warp space, locked onto the coordinates in the center of the Galaxy.

* * *

The _Helix_ drops out of warp space from the nearest warp gate to the coordinates and then jumps back into warp space to travel the rest of the distance. As they draw nearer to their destination, Shane’s mark begins to glow, and the burning sensation from the exposed Warp returns. Shane unplugs the warp drive again, but this time it doesn’t help. He desperately tries to crawl to the comm system, and get some form of help from the crew— from Morgan.

“Hey, is anyone there?” Shane calls out, sounding very much in pain.

“Shane?” Almost immediately, Morgan responds. MARIA is the first to make it to the warp lab, followed shortly by Morgan. She seems uncharacteristically concerned.

With Morgan’s help, MARIA manages to rush Shane to the med bay. There, the robot delivers some pain medication and begins diagnostics. After a few moments, it stops. “Diagnosis inconclusive. No physical abnormalities detected.”

“Yeah, I figured as much,” Shane says. “Still, the pain meds seem to be helping.”

“Do you have any idea what’s causing it” Morgan asks.

“I’m pretty sure it’s this damn mark. It seems like whatever this place is, not even Giratina wants us to go there.”

Morgan glances nervously at the door. “I already told Alex… We have to go. Do you think you’ll be alright if you stay on the ship?”

“I’ll be fine. Either way, I wouldn’t really be much help if I was constantly in pain. Good luck out there.”

“If you’re sure…” The ship begins to slow, and it’s clear that the _Helix_ has almost reached its destination. Morgan looks somewhat frantically between Shane and the door to the med bay. “I… If you need anything, MARIA’s here. Sorry.” With that, she’s gone.

* * *

Morgan, Dmitri, and Alex gather on the bridge as the Helix arrives at the coordinates. When the ship drops out of warp the crew is greeted with the sight of a large glass world orbiting a small, dim star. A small moon orbits the planet in turn. “You certainly pick the most interesting destinations,” Minerva tells her employers.

“Well, we had to come here,” Morgan tells her. “We just go wherever our leads take us.”

“Alright,” Minerva says as she brings the ship in.

Dmitri feels a chill running down his spine as the ship draws near. The planet seems to reflect something back at him.

Minerva sets the ship down on the glass plains and Morgan, Dmitri and Alex disembark. The surface of the planet is nothing but glass, with jagged formations of silver protruding up from the ground. Under the glass beneath their feet lies a layer of silver, creating a mirror effect on the surface. A large silver spire looms in the distance, towering over the landscape.

“This place gives me the creeps,” Alex mumbles under her breath as she follows the others, her eyes darting back and forth between their various reflections. She has a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach.

Dmitri also sees the reflections, but his own is that of someone else. The shadowy figure seems familiar, but he can’t quite make out who it is. “Dmitri…” the reflection calls out to him. Dmitri tries to ignore the voice as the group continues on toward the spire. “ _Dmitri…_ ” it calls out once more, this time pointing at the spire in the distance.

The trio eventually arrives at the base of the spire, and a long flight of mirrored stairs lies ahead of them. Morgan is the first to place a foot upon the steps as she begins to climb. Alex follows closely behind and Dmitri brings up the rear.

As they climb, Alex sees the mirrors around her go dark, the reflections completely fading from view. “There is no one,” a voice faintly whispers. She recognizes it as her own. She reaches out and grabs Morgan’s arm as if to confirm that she is still there.

Morgan feels Alex grab onto her as she hears faint but menacing laughter. “It’s alright,” she says to Alex. “I’m sure there’s nothing here. It’s just a trick.” She hears the laughter again, this time slightly louder.

As they climb ever higher, Dmitri sees the same figure that’s been haunting him since they arrived. This time it appears on the stairs as if it is not a reflection at all. “Do you guys see that figure?” Dmitri asks his companions as he points up to the shadowy figure standing several steps up.

“No…” Morgan tells him, trailing off a bit. “But I’ve been hearing this laughter.” As if on cue, she hears the laughter once again.

“It must be the temple playing tricks on us,” says Dmitri.

“Right,” Morgan agrees. “I’m sure there’s no one there. If it was real, we’d all be able to see it.”

Dmitri looks back at the figure and sees it grinning at him. It slowly fades into view and he recognizes the image of his own brother, Nikolai, who had died many years ago, back when they were still children.

Alex’s eyes dart back in forth between her reflections in the various mirror faces as she hears them whispering to her. “They’re going to leave you, you know.” The reflections sound as if they are taunting her, mocking her. “They’re going to leave you here, _aaaalll alooooone_.” 

Morgan feels Alex’s grip tightening around her arm as if she is desperately clinging onto her. Morgan reaches over with her other arm and rests her hand on Alex’s arm in an attempt to comfort her and keep her from gripping her arm too tightly. It seems to work as Morgan feels Alex’s grip loosen a bit, but she can still feel the girl’s hands trembling.

Dmitri follows the others up the stairs and soon finds himself face to face with the creepy, spectral visage of Nikolai. Dmitri attempts to walk past him and, as he does, he feels a hand on his shoulder. His brother now stands behind him. “Dmitri…” Nikolai calls out to him. Dmitri tries to keep moving up the stairs but the hand tightens on his shoulder.

Alex continues to watch the reflections in fear as she sees images of the rest of the crew behind them. Morgan, Dmitri, Shane, H. Even Minerva and Dr. Armstrong. “One by one…. they will all abandon you,” her reflection says to her in a creepy, but almost sing-songy, voice. With each word one of the crew vanishes from view.

As Alex begins to see fewer and fewer people, Morgan begins to see more. Shadowy figures appear behind her in the reflections as the laughter grows ever louder. Suddenly she feels Alex’s grip release altogether and she turns to see the girl flailing her arms about as if trying to reach out for her.

Alex finds herself swallowed by terror as she sees Morgan fade from view and feels empty air slip through her figures. “I did try to warn you,” her reflection taunts her. “I _told_ you this would happen.” Alex desperately reaches out but grasps nothing. _She was just here a minute ago. She has to still be here._ The thoughts race through her mind. There is no one there. “No… no… _no!_ ” Alex cries out. “Come back!” Tears start to roll down her cheeks as she continues to reach out only to find nothing there.

Seeing Alex falling apart, Morgan grabs onto her and tries to get her attention. “Alex, what is it? Who’s there?” she asks. Alex doesn’t even seem to notice her presence. As Morgan asks this, she sees a pair of glowing red eyes appear behind her in her reflection. It’s the haunting face that has been following her, the face of Trevenant, of Giratina, of Cofagrigus, of the Mirror itself. She hears the laughter again. “It’s me,” the voice says. “I’m here.” Morgan closes her eyes, but she can still see the face. She covers her face with her hands, but she can still see it. Wherever she looks, she can still see it.

Dmitri is still unable to move with the apparition of Nikolai still gripping his shoulder. “What do you want?” Dmitri asks.

“What I want? What do _you_ want?” his brother asks in turn.

“Why are you here?” Dmitri asks.

“Why are _you_ here?” Nikolai returns with the same question.

“To find answers,” Dmitri replies.

“Answers to what?”

“Answers to why you’re following me.”

“I thought this was what you wanted.”

“I didn’t think you would be so creepy about it.”

“And why is that?”

“Because we’re family.”

“Are we now?”

Dmitri falls silent, unsure of how to respond. Part of him knows this is just the temple playing tricks on him, but he so desperately wants to be able to commune with his brother. He never expected it would happen like this.

“Morgan!? Dmitri!?” Alex calls out, desperately searching for her friends, actually using their names instead of the silly nicknames she came up with. It had been a coping mechanism for her, making up names for people, because, as soon as she put their actual names out there, they became people that she could lose. There was no reason for it now that they were gone.

“See, everyone’s gone,” her reflection says to her. “They left you here. Everyone always does.”

Alex runs up the stairs, tears pouring from her eyes. _Maybe they’re just around the bend_ , she thinks. _They **have** to be here somewhere_.

“You’re always going to be alone,” her own voice continues to taunt her. “I don’t even know why you’re still trying. You might as well _give up_. Everyone’s gone. Even _you_.”

With those last words, Alex’s reflections fade from view. She can’t even see herself anymore. She continues to run up the stairs but she slowly starts to lose perception of her own feelings.

Morgan finds herself frozen in fear as she sees the haunting face no matter where she looks. She sees Alex run away, but she is helpless to run after her. The voice laughs menacingly at her as she hears Alex’s cries of terror. She feels as if she is going to die. But then, her rational side kicks in. She knows this is just illusion and tries to shove it aside. The face still looms in her vision but she looks past it. “It’s not real,” she whispers to herself as she slowly follows Alex up the stairs. “It’s not real.”

She hears the laughter again, but this time the voice speaks to her. “Morgan,” it says. “ _Little Morgan_ , of course I’m not real. But that doesn’t mean I can’t hurt you.” Morgan picks up her pace and starts bolting up the stairs after Alex.

Dmitri remains alone on the stairs, trapped in place as he watches Alex and Morgan disappear up the stairs. “Are we really family, Dmitri?” the ghostly figure of his brother asks him. “Are we _really_?”

“Yes, we are,” Dmitri responds finally.

“And why is that?” his brother asks.

“What do you mean?”

“What are you? What am _I_?”

Dmitri remains silent, unsure of how to respond.

“I am nothing,” his brother says. Suddenly the figure before Dmitri transforms into his fallen Metang. “I am nothing and gone. You have no brother. You have no Metang. You have _nothing_. And in the end, you will **be nothing**.” The figure fades to black, and then evaporates into the fog surrounding Dmitri, allowing him to pass and follow the others up the stairs.

Alex feels herself slipping away, feels her senses falling away from her. She considers giving in and fading away, but then something inside her clicks into place. She recalls the time she had given up before… and how she had survived. _NO!_ the thought echoes in her mind. _I will not die here!_

Feeling returns to her once more and her own body becomes visible to her again. She finds herself standing on the stairs… alone. The thick fog of abandonment swirls around her. She looks behind her only to see endless stairs descending to the bottom. She looks up toward the top of the spire and sees endless stairs ascending into the fog. Although she has survived, she feels completely abandoned and a rush of uncontrollable tears overcomes her.

Morgan eventually catches up to Alex and finds her sitting on the stairs, sobbing into her hands. She attempts to grab the girl as she continues running, but she doesn’t appear to even notice her. Morgan struggles to drag Alex up the stairs, but is unable to get her to move. Luckily, Dmitri is not far behind and, together, the two of them are able to pull Alex along with them.

Now dimly aware that she is being dragged along, Alex stops crying and begins to look around. All she can see are blurry and shadow figures pulling her. She’s not quite sure what the figures are, but she has a faint hope that they are Morgan and Dmitri.

They eventually arrive at the summit of the spire and find some sort of apparatus. Before anyone can take a look at it, the air begins to feel as if it is swirling around the summit, emanating the same sensations that had been plaguing them since they arrived. Morgan hears the laughter swirling around her, images of the horrifying face peering at her from the Mirror. Dmitri feels death and oblivion spiraling around him as he sees the reflections of everyone he ever knew that died fade away to nothingness. Alex hears the sounds of her own sobbing despite the fact that she had long since stopped. Everywhere she looks, she sees a reflection of herself overcome by tears.

Trying to push these feelings aside, Dmitri approaches the apparatus and examines it. It appears to be some sort of abstract representation of the star system they are in with rings representing the planet, sun, and moon. He begins to play around with it and, as he does so, the celestial bodies begin to move. Dmitri aligns the rings, and the moon eclipses the sun above the spire.

As the sky goes dark, a bright point of light appears on the moon and begins to trace lines of light in a pattern across its surface. As the moon begins to glow brighter, it moves closer to the planet. The light starts shifting and it appears as if the moon itself is opening. A beam of light strikes the top of the spire and a figure of darkness descends from moon. As it draws near, the sensations they had all been having begin to intensify.

The figure touches down on the spire and Alex hears the sobs change to a blood-curdling scream of pain. Dmitri finds himself overwhelmed with pure nihilism and the complete annihilation of the Galaxy. Morgan hears a chorus of menacing laughter, the same voice she had heard before as well as that of everyone she has ever known. Slowly, all of these sensations begin bleeding into each other and each of them feels the fears of the others.

The figure looks at the three Humans surrounding it and extends an arm, reaching out with its hand. A wave of darkness casts out from it and engulfs them. “Why?” Dmitri asks. “Why do all of this?”

 _Why not?_ Dmitri hears a voice inside his head; his own voice. _All things must come to an end._

One by one, each of the trio begins to drift off. Alex is the first to go, as nothingness closes in around her. Dmitri soon also begins to fade. Morgan is the last to go, witnessing an aura of dark illusions emanating from the figure. She tries to run, but she quickly falls to the floor and out of consciousness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well this was quite the session to be missing two players. But we really needed to do something big this session in order to be able to get everything the GM had planned for this volume in before the semester ended. Shane’s player was at PAX East and H's player is hard to get a hold of and didn't get the memo that we were meeting on the weekends before and after spring break. We made up an easy excuse for why H wasn’t available but it was a bit harder with Shane so his player helped me to work him into the narrative for the write-up.
> 
> So yeah, shit went down this chapter. I finally got the opportunity to RP with my Shiny Primal Kyogre! I had ranked up my command skill twice since catching it and that certainly helped get it under control. And then we went to the Mirror Planet. That got really dark… rai…. I think this chapter should provide you with some serious insight into these three characters’ fears.


	50. Volume 2, Chapter 17: Battle on the Mirrored Plains

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Helix crew faces off with a dangerous Pokemon in a hellish battle in the Galactic core.

Morgan, Dmitri, and Alex awaken in the middle of a glass field. It extends as far as the eye can see before dropping off into a chasm on all sides. The mirrored spire looms beyond the chasm, a giant shadow rising in the twilight. All three of them feel on edge, as if something is watching them from all sides. Morgan releases her Oshawott and Dmitri releases his Scyther, anticipating a fight. Suddenly the ground begins to rumble and the figure they saw before rises up from the chasm, only this time it towers over them on a gigantic scale.

 _Darkrai_.

They all hear their own voices whispering inside their heads, speaking the name of the massive Pokemon rising up before them.

“Leviatan!” Alex yells, reaching for one of her Pokeballs. She throws it out, and her own gigantic Pokemon emerges, although it appears tiny next to the humongous form of Darkrai. Lightning cracks in the sky as Leviathan calls forth a massive storm, with several bolts striking the ground.

Darkrai reaches out toward Dmitri’s Scyther and a surge of hellfire blasts out from its hand toward the green Pokemon. The flames overwhelm the Pokemon and take her down instantly.

“Leviathan, use Thunder!” Alex shouts and the Pokemon obliges. A massive bolt of lightning crashes from the sky and strikes Darkrai, dealing a heavy blow.

“Herman, use Razor Shell!” Morgan commands her Oshawott. The small blue Pokemon leaps at his giant foe and slices it with his shell. Darkrai does not seem particularly bothered by the attack.

“Your turn, Ness!” shouts Dmitri as he releases his Gyarados. In the meantime, Morgan peers into the future with Miracle Eye and prepares an attack against Darkrai.

Darkrai waves its arms and pulses of dark lightning strike down on the ground. When the smoke clears, the trio finds themselves face to face with doppelgangers of themselves. The doppelgangers silently release the same Pokemon that they have out.

The false Gyarados lets out a roar and fires a pulse of darkness at Ness, dealing a solid blow to the Gyarados. “Ness, Bite it back!” Dmitri commands. His own Gyarados rushes forward and sinks his fangs into his copy, causing it to flinch.

Leviathan’s imposter moves next and summons a surge of wind and snow that strikes the real Leviathan and Ness. Leviathan avoids the attack but Ness is hit and the Gyarados goes down. “Leviathan, use Aqua Ring!” Alex commands her Pokemon. The massive creature shrouds itself in water, an attempt by Alex to keep it alive as long as possible.

“Herman, use Fury Cutter!” Morgan commands her Pokemon, pointing at the false Leviathan. The Oshawott lunges at the large beast and slices it across the face. Herman’s imposter attempts to do the same to the real Leviathan but it is unable to land the hit.

Morgan’s prepped attack launches out of the air and strikes Darkrai, dealing another solid blow. Dmitri takes this time to quickly switch out to Wilhelm, his trusty Haunter.

Darkrai reaches out toward Leviathan and dark shadows surround the Pokemon, putting it to sleep. Darkrai appears to be feeding off the sleeping Pokemon and regaining its stamina. Luckily, the veil of water surrounding Leviathan restores the drained energy.

“Wilhelm, Shadow Ball!” Dmitri instructs his Haunter. The Pokemon creates a ball of dark energy in his hands and lobs it at the fake Gyarados. The imposter Pokemon responds with a pulse of its own dark energy, taking down the Pokemon that attacked it.

The false Leviathan locks onto Herman and fires a powerful Water Pulse at the Oshawott. The hit is strong but the Pokemon manages to endure it. The real Leviathan remains asleep while Alex nervously looks on. _C’mon, wake up!_ she thinks. _We need you!_

“Herman, use Fury Cutter again!” Morgan commands her Oshawott. He lunges forward at Leviathan’s imposter once again and prepares to slice it. His own doppelganger attempts to intercept with a Fury Cutter of its own but Herman parries the attack and lands his own on the false Leviathan. Dmitri seizes the opportunity to fire a Will-O-Wisp at the fake Oshawott and burns it.

Morgan targets the fake Gyarados and blasts it with an Extrasensory attack! The imposter Pokemon finally goes down. Both Dmitri and his doppelganger reach for Pokeballs and throw out their next Pokemon. Dmitri’s Kadabra, Houdini, now stands face to face with an imposter of Wilhelm.

Darkrai reaches out to Leviathan again and drains more energy from the sleeping creature. While this is happening, Wilhelm’s imposter throws a Shadow Ball at Houdini. “Houdini, Teleport out of there!” Dmitri commands the Kadabra. His Pokemon obliges and quickly warps out of the way as the ball of energy whizzes through the space he occupied seconds ago.

Leviathan’s imposter roars and calls forth another surge of snow and ice, this time targeting Morgan’s Oshawott. The nimble little Pokemon is able to dodge the brunt of the attack and keep on fighting. The real Leviathan awakens, and lets out a roar of its own. Alex sighs with relief and commands her Pokemon: “Leviathan, use Water Spout!” The giant sea beast rears its head and spits up a massive blast of water. It rains down on Darkrai and deals a hefty blow.

Herman’s imposter moves again, lunging at Houdini and furiously attempting to cut the Kadabra. “Herman, keep using Fury Cutter!” Morgan commands her own Oshawott. He leaps at the false Leviathan once again and hits it with an even stronger blow than before.

Morgan preps another attack while Dmitri pulls out his laser rifle and starts shooting at Darkrai. The giant Pokemon doesn’t seem wounded from the laser fire, but it is weakened. It looks down at the Humans and Pokemon attacking it and summons a massive void of darkness around them, putting them to sleep. With its enemies asleep, Darkrai begins draining energy from them.

Wilhelm’s doppelganger locks onto Herman and throws a Shadow Ball at him. However, the shot goes wide and misses the sleeping Oshawott. As the only combatant still awake, Houdini moves up and assaults the false Haunter with a blast of psychic energy and takes it down.

Leviathan’s imposter targets Herman as well and spits a pulse of water at him. The Oshawott amazingly endures the hit and wakes up from the impact! Unfortunately, his doppelganger moves in and deals a finishing blow, taking him out of the fight.

The real Leviathan lets out a mighty roar as it awakens. Without its trainer to command it, the beast acts on its own, summoning a giant wave of electricity, completely electrifying the ground.

Having been lying on the ground quite close to her Pokemon, the electrified ground shocks Alex awake and she leaps to her feet to see her friends sleeping on the ground. She dashes over to Dmitri who is lying nearby and tries to nudge him awake. “Sorry,” she says quietly when this fails to wake him. She kicks him hard in the side which causes him to wake up. 

Before Dmitri gets a chance to assesses the situation, Darkrai reaches out toward his Kadabra and fires a pulse of Darkness. He looks on in horror as he watches his Pokemon die from the powerful attack.

Dmitri’s doppelganger then releases a copy of the Kadabra, rubbing the salt into the wound. Houdini’s imposter fires its own blast of psychic energy at Leviathan, dealing a nasty blow. Leviathan’s own doppelganger follows up with a pulse of water, further whittling it down.

“Leviathan, use Blizzard!” Alex yells, pointing at the copy of her Pokemon. Leviathan summons a blast of freezing air and snow and directs it at its doppelganger. The blast hits both its own imposter and Herman’s. The fake Oshawott tries to get a hit off on Leviathan but collapses due to its burn.

Dmitri releases his Absol, Harbinger, but the Darkrai quickly takes it down with a powerful blast of energy. The false Kadabra fires a blast of psychic energy at Leviathan, but the powerful Pokemon shrugs off the hit. Leviathan’s doppelganger tries to follow up with another pulse of water, but Leviathan dodges out of the way. “Use Water Pulse, Leviathan!” Alex commands her Pokemon. “Take that faker down!” The giant creature fires a pulse of water of its own back at its copy and takes it out of the fight. 

The attack Morgan predicted before she fell asleep emerges and slams into Darkrai, reminding the others that they need to focus on the main enemy and not the copies it created. Darkrai is unfazed and fires a pulse of darkness at Leviathan, continuing its focused assault on the durable Pokemon. The false Kadabra attempts to follow up with a blast a psychic energy but it misses.

Seeing Leviathan running out of steam, Dmitri runs over and uses a potion on it. Combined with the veil of water surrounding it, the large Pokemon appears reinvigorated as it prepares for another attack. “Use Thunder!” Alex shouts. The Pokemon lets out a mighty roar as it summons a massive lightning bolt that crashes down on Darkrai.

Morgan finally wakes up and assesses the battlefield. She sees that Leviathan stands alone against the Darkrai and the doppelgangers and decides to heal it. She runs over and pulls out a hyper potion, bringing the Pokemon nearly to full strength. Dmitri covers her by firing a Will-O-Wisp at Darkrai, burning the massive Pokemon.

Darkrai reaches out toward the rejuvenated Leviathan and fires a pulse of darkness at it. The giant sea best dodges out of the way and the attack strikes the ground, kicking up water and shards of glass. The false Kadabra follows up with a blast of Confusion. Leviathan shrugs off the hit and prepares to attack again.

“Leviathan, use Blizzard!” Alex yells. Leviathan lets out a roar as it summons another squall. The ice and snow batter Darkrai and trap it in ice! Dmitri raises his hand at his immobilized foe and casts a Hex on it, further whittling it down.

The area around the battlefield begins to warp and dark lightning begins crashing down all around the combatants. The doppelgangers vanish as the huge Darkrai dissolves out of the ice and three smaller ones appear where the doppelgangers once stood. The trio of Darkrais appear to be worn down and weakened.

“Leviathan, use Water Pulse!” Alex commands, pointing at one of the enemies. The Pokemon spits a blast of water at it and it dissolves into smoke. Only two remain. Morgan releases her Bellsprout and Dmitri releases his Slugma as they prepare to end the fight. Dmitri also pulls a ball off his belt and attempts to capture one of the Darkrais.

The ball immediately starts shaking violently and the Darkrai bursts out of it. The two Darkrais then take aim at Leviathan and fire pulses of darkness at it. Leviathan manages to dodge one, but the other finds its mark.

“Edouard, use Sleep Powder!” Morgan commands her Bellsprout. As the powder settles on the Darkrai, its image becomes hazy.

“Obsidius, Flame Burst!” Dmitri instructs his Slugma. The Pokemon fires a lick of flames at the other Darkrai but it dodges out of the way. Dmitri then pulls out another ball and throws it at the hazy darkrai. The ball closes around the Pokemon and everything seems to move in slow motion.

BOOP.

The ball beeps, but instead of the ball shaking the whole planet feels as if it is rumbling.

 _BOOP_.

Again. The whole area starts going hazy and reality starts to distort. The other Darkrai vanishes as the rumbling becomes more violent.

Suddenly Morgan vanishes, as if she was pulled out of reality itself. Alex vanishes in the same way soon after, leaving Dmitri standing alone.

 ** _BOOP_**.

The whole planet shakes again, and then falls still. The whole world begins to unravel and Dmitri finds his eyes locked with Darkrai, his hand clutched tightly around his Pokeball. He feels the familiar whisper in the back of his mind, but he also feels his own whisper calling back to it. It feels as if he now has some sort of influence over Darkrai, as if they have some sort of symbiotic connection.

* * *

Morgan and Alex find themselves back at the spire summit, having awoken from the nightmare Darkrai had trapped them in. They see the Pokemon standing over Dmitri’s body, as if the two are locked in some sort of mind struggle. The color in Dmitri’s hair fades to a ghostly white and the Pokemon begins to drift away, pulled back towards the moon. Dmitri’s eyes open, now glowing a brilliant shade of blue.

As he awakens, Dmitri becomes aware of what Darkrai is. Darkrai exerts a pressure, bending humans’ minds with their fears. But it is just a conduit. The whispers in the back of the mind don’t come from Darkrai, they come from somewhere else.

There is _something else_.

 _And they are coming_.

“What happened?” Alex asks.

“I’m not entirely sure,” Dmitri tells her. “I think I am now bound to Darkrai, similarly to how Shane is bound to Giratina. I believe that it has some kind of aura that exists around it that causes people to be pressured by their fears. I think the mirrors are similarly bound to it, conduits for its power. There is something else, beyond Darkrai. That’s what drove those people insane.”

“That’s really fascinating and all,” Morgan tells him. “But I _really_ think we should leave.”

“We can’t leave yet, we haven’t found anything!” Alex shouts.

“You were the one who didn’t want to come here because it might be dangerous,” Morgan snaps. “Well it really _is_ dangerous.”

“But if we leave now it will have all been for nothing.”

“Who cares if it was all for nothing? At least we’d still be alive.”

“But we _are_ still alive.”

“ _For now!_ ”

“You told me to keep going until I find the truth, so that’s what I’m gonna do! We’re staying until we find something!”

“Okay, but make it quick.”

Alex looks around but there doesn’t seem to be any clues. It doesn’t look like anyone has been here in a long time, definitely not within the last two decades. It becomes painfully apparent to Alex that her father was never here.

* * *

With nothing more they can do, the trio returns to the _Helix_ , eager to be gone from this terrible place.

“Rough night?” Minerva asks as she sees them walk past the bridge looking quite down and worn out.

“Just get us off this damn planet,” Morgan tells her before walking away.

“You don’t have to tell me twice,” the pilot says as she fires up the engines. As soon as they’re ready to go, Minerva brings the ship back into space and makes the jump back to civilized space.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was one hell of a battle! Darkrai and Doppelgangers! The whole fight was fittingly set to Dooplis’s theme from Paper Mario: TTYD. It was a bit tough with just three of us, but it would have taken so long if we had to go up against five doppelgangers at once! Plus more EXP for us!
> 
> There were still so many unanswered questions after this fight, but things were starting to come together as we explored yet another of our many leads. There was also a lot of great character development over these two chapters. This was a very important session for Alex as a character. We really got to see how she has bonded with the others over the past couple of months and how strong her fear of abandonment really is. Those two aspects work really nicely together. Too bad she didn’t find what she was looking for yet. And then there’s Dmitri, who now has a bond with Darkrai. Only time will tell how that will influence him as a character going forward (spoilers: it won't because Dmitri is Dmitri).


	51. Volume 2, Chapter 18: Breaking Point

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things get tense on the Helix after the crew's rough experience in the Galactic core.

The _Helix_ flies through warp space on a flight plan back to civilized space. Everyone on the crew is eager to get far away from the Mirror Planet. As they get further away from the planet, Shane’s pain begins to subside, although he remains pretty loopy from the pain meds. He makes his way to the bridge to meet his newly returned shipmates.

“Your hair is shiny,” he says to Dmitri, seeing his now ghostly white hair. It is apparent to Dmitri that the effects of the pain meds have not yet worn off and he chooses to ignore Shane. Shane then turns his attention to Morgan. “What’s that on your arm?” he asks, pointing at her crossed arms.

In his current mental state, Shane is not entirely sure what he’s seeing, but his words draw the others’ attention. Alex looks over to see Morgan gripping her arm tightly, her nails digging into her flesh and drawing blood. “Oh my God, you’re bleeding!” she blurts out. Morgan says nothing and simply turns and walks out of the room.

“Bye, bye, see you later…” Shane says as he falls over onto the floor.

After several minutes of silence they all hear a scream of frustration echoing down the hall from the direction of Morgan’s workshop. Hearing this, Shane snaps out of his dazed state, a feeling of clarity returning to his mind. He leaps to his feet, but soon falls down again. He rolls over and then teleports himself to Morgan.

“Are you okay?” he asks her without even attempting to get up. “I heard screaming.”

Morgan looks down at him and he sees in her eyes an anger that he had never before seen directed at him. “GET OUT!” she screams at him with a furious rage.

As if by reflex, Shane teleports himself outside the door in a state of shock. He props himself up against the door and leans his head back against it. It thuds against the cold metal as Shane tries to make sense of what had just happened. As he sorts through his thoughts, he hears Morgan violently punching the wall repeatedly on the other side of the door.

“What do you want!?” Morgan shouts through the door at Shane. “Leave me alone!”

“This isn’t like you,” Shane replies.

“How would you know!? You don’t even know me! I _hate_ you! I hate everyone on this ship!”

“I’ve known you long enough to know what you used to be like.”

“It doesn’t matter what I used to be like. We shouldn’t have come here.”

“What did you guys even find there?”

“There was an evil Pokemon there…” Alex tells him, having finally arrived on the scene and not exactly sure what had happened between the two of them.

“Yeah, that much I gathered…” Shane replies with a sigh.

“Alex…?” Morgan asks when she hears the girl’s voice. “Oh God, I didn’t mean that! I don’t hate you.”

“What?” Alex asks in confusion, having not heard Morgan’s previous exchange with Shane. “Why would you… hate me…?”

“I don’t, it’s just…” Morgan trails off. Alex and Shane hear Morgan walk away from the door and the faint sound of her crying.

Shane stands up and tries to open the door and find that it is locked. Alex reaches for the console to try to hack the lock but Shane places a hand on her shoulder and teleports both of them into the room. Shane walks up to Morgan and tries to hug her.

“Just leave me alone,” Morgan tells him as she tries to shrink away.

Alex runs up to both of them and pulls them into a tight hug. “You said we were family,” she tells Morgan. “And families are there for each other… no matter what.”

But the damage is already done. Shane breaks away, a sad and dejected look on his face. He quietly exits the room and the door slides shut behind him.

“I’m sorry,” Morgan says to Alex after Shane leaves. “I didn’t mean we shouldn’t have come here. It’s just… there were…”

“But you were the one who told me we should go,” Alex tells her. “You told me not to give up.”

“I know… I just… need to be alone for a while.”

“Okay…” Alex replies and loosens her grip.

“I’m sorry…” Morgan tells her as she leaves the room.

As the door slides shut behind her, Alex sees Shane sitting on the floor opposite the door, hugging his Amaura. She walks over to him and plops herself down next to him.

“It’ll be okay,” she tells him, placing her hand on his arm.

* * *

That night, Morgan stealthily makes her way down the ship’s corridor and slips into H’s room. He lies on the bed, completely passed out, still recovering from his procedure. After a cursory glance around the room, Mogan finds what she is looking for: H’s Pokeballs. She quickly grabs the one containing #4, the Trevenant that started everything, and takes it. 

_Now for the other monster_ , Morgan thinks as she continues on to Shane’s room for that Cofagrigus. She finds the room empty and recalls that Shane rarely spends time there. _Of course he’s not here_ , she thinks. She quickly exits the room and makes her way to the warp lab. She will not rest until the nightmares are gone.

* * *

Alex sits on her bed staring at the holoscroll Gilgamesh had given her, trying to find out more information and make some sense of what had happened on the Mirror Planet. She hears the sound of footsteps in the hallway and decides to check it out. She gets up and sticks her head out the door to see Morgan passing around the corner. _What’s she doing up this late?_ Alex wonders to herself. She hurriedly puts her boots on and follows Morgan, trying to figure out what she’s up to.

As she rounds the bend, Alex sees Morgan emerge from her robotics workshop carrying a Pokeball and a laser sword with EHRB, the ship’s repair bot, in tow. Alex quickly ducks out of sight as she watches Morgan enter Shane’s warp lab.

* * *

Shane sits in the warp lab, slumped against the wall and staring into the Warp, still feeling the sadness washing over him. The only sound in the room is the steady hum of the warp drive. He notices the door open and looks up to see Morgan walking toward him. Before he has a chance to react, he sees EHRB’s flamethrower pointed directly at him.

“Give me the Cofagrigus,” she says coldly, a look of anger on her face. Shane just looks at her with a confused look on his face, still distressed over Morgan’s state of rage. She activates the laser sword in her hand. “Give me the Cofagrigus,” she says again, this time more forcefully.

Shane stands up with a look of alarm on his face. “Morgan… what are you doing?” he asks.

“We will never be safe until those things are dead,” she says.

“What are you talking about? What things?”

Morgan raises the laser sword and points it at the Pokeball containing H’s Trevenant. It looks as if she intends to pierce the ball with the sword. 

“No!” she suddenly hears Alex shout. Before she has a chance to act, Alex leaps at her from behind and wrestles the Pokeball out of her hand. Morgan swings the sword at the Pokeball but Shane quickly uses his powers to trade places with Alex.

“Morgan, you _really_ don’t want to do this,” he says as he catches the sword with his marked hand.

Morgan ignores him and looks right at Alex. “Give it back!” she screams at the girl.

“No! You were gonna murder it!” Alex screams back at her. She turns to run out of the room but EHRB fires a string shot grenade at her and traps her against the wall.

Shane pushes Mogan away and lunges for EHRB with his electric crystal dagger. The blade pierces the bot’s armor and takes it offline. “Morgan, you’re making a mistake!” he shouts.

“It’s not a mistake! If I don’t do this, we’re all going to die!” she shouts back at him.

“You’re just a no-good Pokemon murderer!” Alex screams at her, tears starting to run down her cheeks. She struggles against the sticky webs binding her and manages to reach one of her Pokeballs, releasing her Houndoom.

“You don’t want to do this!” Shane shouts at Morgan again. “You’re making a mistake!”

Morgan just looks at him and blasts him with her mind, slamming him into the wall with a burst of psychic energy. Suddenly Dmitri steps into the room, drawn there due to his new ability to perceive negative emotions and fears. He attempts to put her to sleep but his attack misses.

“Diablo, stop her!” Alex commands her Pokemon. The Houndoom leaps at Morgan and sinks his sharp teeth into her arm. Morgan stares at Alex with a look of cold hatred, but the sight of the tears pouring down the girl’s face as she desperately pleads for the lives of Pokemon that aren’t even her own snaps her back to reality.

“Morgan… you don’t have to do this,” Shane tells her as he walks up and embraces her. “I love you.” The laser sword falls from Morgan’s hand and the blade retracts as it clatters against the metal floor.

They stand there for a moment before Morgan breaks away and runs off in the direction of the med bay. “Here, cut her down,” Shane says to Dmitri, handing him his dagger and motioning toward Alex. He then exits the room to go after Morgan.

Shane enters the med bay and sees Mogan sitting on the table as MARIA tends to her bite wound. He knocks on the wall a couple times to make his presence known. “I guess I should say I’m sorry…” Shane says to Morgan as she looks up at him. “For holding out so much… For not telling you sooner.”

“I’m sorry I tried to hurt you,” Morgan replies.

“I’m just glad that’s over now…” Shane says, taking a seat on the bench opposite the table.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The ship is real! Shane confessed his love for Morgan finally! Unfortunately, from this point on, neither player did a good enough job of taking it anywhere, so it fizzled out just as quickly as it came out of nowhere. Some crazy shit went down at the start of this session though. Even though most people felt Dmitri and Alex had the worst time on the Mirror Planet, it seems that Morgan was actually the one most tormented by it. I honestly did not see that one coming at the time. She tried to kill Pokemon, which is one of the worst offenses in Alex’s eyes. I was sure the events of this chapter were going to leave the relationship between Morgan and Alex quite strained for a while.
> 
> H’s player was absent again, unaware that we were meeting during spring break and being impossible to reach. He missed his own Pokemon nearly getting killed! I really wondered how H would react to the person he dislikes most on the ship being the one to save it. This was also why we all had so much more EXP than him by the end; he missed so many more sessions than anyone else. We were all hoping he would show up for the next session because we actually needed him for the conference as he was our ticket in.


	52. Volume 2, Chapter 19: The Gardener of Eden

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Helix crew chases down the lead on the Gardener of Eden provided by Gilgamesh.

The _Helix_ drops out of warp space back into civilized Federation space. After a brief stop to refuel and pick up supplies, the crew gathers on the bridge to discuss where to go next. “ _Sooo_ , what crazy planet are we headed to next?” Minerva asks.

“What about that Gardener thing?” Alex asks.

“It _is_ the only thing we have left to investigate,” Morgan agrees.

“Yeah, I guess so,” Shane agrees.

“So where is this ‘Gardener thing?'” Minerva asks.

“It’s at these coordinates in Sinai space,” Morgan tells her, showing her the coordinates Gilgamesh had given her.

A worried look crosses Shane’s face when he sees the coordinates and he quickly exits the room.

“Just take us there,” Morgan tells Minerva. She recalls that the coordinates are in the same sector as where they first met Shane and decides to go after him.

* * *

Morgan’s first thought is to go to the warp lab to look for Shane, but she doesn’t find him there. _That’s unusual_ , she thinks. She heads to the living quarters next and checks to see if Shane is in his room. At first glance it appears as if he is not there either, but upon entering the room, she notices Shane hiding away inside the computer, huddled in a corner of the virtual room.

“Shane?” Morgan asks, but he seems to be trying to ignore her. “This is something we have to do,” she continues. “You know that.”

“I do, but…” Shane trails off. He pauses for a moment. “I don’t like it. I don’t know what’s out there."

“Well, whatever it is, I can guarantee it’s not even half as bad as what was on the Mirror Planet.”

“To me it might be… That’s where I’m from.”

“We won’t let them take you back.”

At that, Shane seems to loosen up a bit. He turns around to face Morgan. “Thanks,” he tells Morgan. “That means a lot.”

“So, are you gonna be okay?” Morgan asks.

“I sure as hell hope so,” Shane tells her. He stands up and returns himself to the physical world.

* * *

The crew gathers on the bridge once more as the _Helix_ drops out of warp space in the system containing the coordinates that Gilgamesh provided them. Flying past a couple of gas giants, the ship arrives at a small, uninhabited ice world with what appears to be some sort of Sinai research station in orbit.

Morgan hails the station and a Sinai researcher appears on the viewscreen. Shane quickly ducks behind the console to avoid being seen. The man on the screen is a balding, older looking man wearing a lab coat and some sort of religious symbol around his neck.

“This is a restricted area,” the man says. “State your business.”

“Well, we’re here looking for information on something called the Gardener,” Morgan tells him.

A very serious expression appears on the man’s face. “Who are you?” he asks.

“We were told by Gilgamesh to come here,” Morgan responds.

The man’s expression turns quite sour at the mention of Gilgamesh’s name. “ _Him_ … Look, I don’t know what he’s after, but you can just leave. This is a _restricted_ area.”

Shane finally recognizes the man and is overcome by a wave of anger. This was the face he saw so many times in the past, overseeing the agonizing experiments he had tried to forget since his departure.

“We didn’t come here looking for trouble,” Morgan replies. “We just came for some information.”

“What kind of information? The project here is classified. We can’t just freely give out information to whoever just flies in here.”

“Can you tell me?” Shane asks sternly as he steps into view.

“ _You!_ ” the man shouts. He looks shocked. “What is _he_ doing on your ship?”

“He’s part of our crew,” Morgan tells him. “And he deserves to know what’s going on here.”

“This man is a wanted fugitive. You will surrender him to our custody and we may let you leave.”

“Oh really?” Shane asks indignantly, with a hint of sarcasm. “I didn’t know that. What am I wanted for?”

“Theft of Sinai scientific assets.”

“When we found him, he was being _attacked_ by your nation’s scientists,” Morgan replies sternly. “If we have something you want, we’ll give it back, but he stays with us.”

“You don’t understand,” Shane tells her. “You have _me_.”

“This man is property of the Sinai Ascendancy,” the man tells Morgan. “You will return him to us, post-haste.”

“He’s not property!” Alex shouts. “He’s a person!”

“He is _not_ , in fact, _a person_ ,” the researcher tells her. He then turns to Shane with a slight grin on his face. “You haven’t told them, _have you?_ ”

“I told most of them,” Shane replies. He then looks at Alex with an apologetic look. She looks back with a confused expression.

The researcher’s grin turns to a scowl. “So, why are you here then?” he asks. “Why are you _really_ here?”

“We already told you,” Shane informs him. “The Gardener.”

“How about we make a deal?” the man asks. His grin returns as he shifts his gaze back to Morgan. “You return this… _thing_ … to us and we will reveal to you what you want to know.”

“We can _talk_ ,” Morgan replies coldly.

“I look forward to it,” the man responds before the screen goes blank.

Morgan turns to look at her crewmates. “They won’t tell us what we want to know, even if we give them Shane.”

Shane drops to his knees, quite shaken from the exchange, from his encounter with his past. Morgan walks up to him and leans down to help him up. “It’s fine,” she tells him. “We’ll fight them if we have to. We’re going to at least try to talk to them first.”

“Thanks,” Shane replies as Morgan pulls him up. “Let’s go talk.”

* * *

Shane steps off the _Helix_ into the station’s docking bay with Morgan, Alex, and Dmitri close behind. The scientist stands waiting, flanked by four guards. “Welcome,” he says as the crew approaches. “I am Dr. Jeremiah.” He motions his men to start moving on Shane.

“I said we could talk _first_ ,” Morgan objects.

“What about?” Jeremiah responds. “I believe the agreement was…. hand over your… _compatriot_ … and we will tell you what you wish to know.”

“How do we know that you’re not gonna cross your own deal?” Shane asks.

“Exactly,” Morgan agrees. “Tell us what we want to know first.”

“My terms were to hand him over first,” Jeremiah tells her. “Come now, we can be civil about this, no?”

“There’s nothing civil about this,” Morgan responds.

Shane steps forward and holds his hands up, turning himself over to the scientist. He looks back at Morgan and gives her a reassuring nod. Jeremiah waves to the guards and they move in with restraints, not just for his hands, but for his legs and head as well. Seeing this, a look of alarm appears on Shane’s face and he vanishes.

As if on instinct, the rest of the crew reach for their Pokeballs and release their Pokemon. The guards respond in kind and release their own Pokemon: a Mr. Mime, a Solrock, a Gallade, and a Reuniclus.

The Pokemon seem well trained and disciplined and act on their own. The Mr. Mime focuses on Ebony and launches a blast of energy at the Umbreon. However, the Pokemon dodges out of the way and the blast impacts the floor.

“Jean, use Volt Tackle!” Morgan points at the Mr. Mime and commands her Pikachu to attack. The yellow mouse sprints forward as electrical energy builds up around him. He leaps into the air as he approaches the enemy Pokemon and crashes headlong into it.

“Ebony, follow up with Assurance!” Alex instructs her own Pokemon. The Umbreon runs forward and slams into the Mr. Mime that had attacked her, knocking it back a ways. The Pokemon miraculously stays sanding but it appears quite beat up.

While Ebony is still close, the Gallade takes aim and shoots a wave of thunder at her in an attempt to immobilize her. The attack lands but the Umbreon keeps moving. The Solrock hangs back a bit and launches a powerful Psychic blast at the Pikachu that had attacked its ally. The attack lands dead on and knocks the small electric Pokemon back. The Reuniclus has a similar idea to the Gallade and targets Dmitri’s newly evolved Scizor with another wave of thunder.

“Gigan, use X-Scissor on that Reuniclus!” Dmitri commands his Scizor. The Pokemon fights through the Thunder Wave and flies up to the Reuniclus and slashes with her powerful claws.

Shane reappears in front of the Mr. Mime and hits it with a shadowy attack, taking the Pokemon down. He then quickly runs back toward the others and releases his Cofagrigus.

“Jean, use Electro Ball!” Morgan commands her Pikachu. Jean leaps into the air and throws a large ball of electricity at the Reuniclus, dealing a pretty hefty blow. As Jean lands, the Gallade runs up to him and attempts to hit him in retaliation for its fallen ally, but the nimble Pikachu dodges out of the way. “Keep moving Jean!” Morgan shouts as the Solrock fires a wave of psychic energy at her Pokemon. The Pikachu looks up at the incoming attack and jumps out of the way just in time.

In the meantime, the Reuniclus focuses on Ebony and sends out a large blast of energy just like the Mr. Mime. This time, the Umbreon isn’t so lucky and she is unable to dodge out of the way. Fortunately, Ebony proves to be a tough little Pokemon and takes the hit, but she seems unable to do much else due to paralysis.

“Gigan, hit that Reuniclus again with another X-Scissor!” Dmitri instructs his Pokemon. The Scizor swipes the Pokemon with her claws again and, this time, she takes it down.

“Jean, use Volt Tackle on that Gallade!” Morgan commands her Pikachu. Jean charges at the enemy Pokemon as he builds up electricity around him. He leaps at the Gallade and slams into it. The Pokemon seems unfazed as it fires a beam of electricity at Ebony, however, the Umbreon is quite resilient and the attack doesn’t seem to do much to her. The Solrock locks onto Jean and fires a large blast of Psychic energy at him,finally taking the dodgy Pokemon out of the fight. Morgan quickly switches out to her freshly evolved Dewott.

“Gigan, use Wing Attack on that Gallade!” Dmitri commands his Scizor. The Pokemon flies in for the hit and slices the Pokemon with her armored wings.

“V.O.I.D., finish it off with Shadow Ball!” Shane commands his newly released Pokemon. The ghostly Pokemon builds up a ball of dark energy in her shadowy hands and lobs it at the Gallade, taking it down.

“Ebony, use Faint Attack!” Alex commands her Umbreon. The Pokemon runs over to the Solrock, the sole remaining enemy Pokemon, and slams into it.

Seeing the fight not going in his men’s favor, Jeremiah turns to run out of the room. “Gigan, stop him!” Dmitri commands his Pokemon. The Scizor swiftly flies after the fleeing scientist and knocks him down, drawing a bit of blood with her claws in the process.

The Solrock locks onto V.O.I.D. and fires a psychic wave at the Cofagrigus. The attack hits dead on and deals a heavy blow.

“Herman, use Razor Shell!” Morgan commands her Dewott. He rushes forward at the rocky Pokemon and slashes it with his shell, dealing a powerful hit.

“V.O.I.D., use Shadow Ball and finish it off!” Shane commands his Pokemon. The Cofagrigus unleashes another powerful ball of dark energy, this time aimed at the Solrock, and takes it down, ending the fight.

With their Pokemon defeated, the guards stay out of the way as the crew moves up to where Jeremiah lies on the floor. Shane stands over him and looks down at him. “Now, I’m gonna ask you again,” he says to the scientist. “Tell us about the Gardener.”

“You really don’t know anything do you?” Jeremiah asks him as he props himself up against the wall. He laughs. “What are you going to do to me?” he asks in a patronizing tone.

“What are you most afraid of?” Shane asks in an attempt to sound intimidating. He lifts his marked arm and wills it to start glowing. Jeremiah does not seem impressed.

Dmitri walks up to Jeremiah and places a hand on his forehead and attempts to reach into his mind using his newfound abilities but he can’t really figure out how it works.

“Keep trying,” Morgan tells him. “I’m going to see if I can hack into their computers.” She walks to a nearby console and attempts to hack into it. 

Alex thinks this sounds like a good idea, but she doesn’t want to be alone with Morgan due to the fact that she had tried to kill her crewmates’ Pokemon. She silently slinks off on her own to see if she can find their mainframe or something better to hack than some random terminal.

Eventually, Morgan manages to break into the console and find a map of the facility. She brings it up and begins to analyze it to the best of her ability. She sees a strange looking computer chamber and conjectures that it might be where Shane was held when he was here. On the other end of the station, she notes there is a large open chamber that seems to be a large physical space as opposed to the other chamber.

Morgan cannot do much more than theorize about what these rooms are because she cannot read the Sinai language. _I wonder if Alex can read this_ , she thinks. She looks back over towards the others who are a ways down the hall and notices that Alex is absent. _Where did that girl get off to now?_ she thinks. As if on cue, Morgan notices an alert go off on the map in another section of the ship.

“Shane!” She shouts down the hall. “I think Alex might be in trouble! Come with me!” She then hurries off to the location indicated on the map.

“Stay here,” Shane tells Dmitri. “See if you can get him to talk.” He then follows after Morgan.

* * *

Alex runs through the hallways of the station searching for some sort of main computer room. She reads the signs on the doors and walls as she passes, but can’t seem to find anything to point her in the right direction.

As she rounds a bend, she suddenly hears an alarm go off. She quickens her pace, but an Electivire emerges into the hallway and blocks her path. Alex curses angrily in Sinai as she skids to a halt. She turns to run in the other direction, but sees a Magnezone barreling down the hall toward her. With no other options, Alex reaches down and pulls out two Pokeballs. She releases her Lampent and her Houndoom on either side to protect herself from the Pokemon closing in on her.

“Lumiera, use Will-O-Wisp on the big one!” Alex points at the Electivire and her Lampent shoots a ball of flame at the large yellow Pokemon, inflicting a burn upon it. The Electivire doesn’t seem to mind and just keeps coming at her. It gets up close and stomps down hard, causing the entire station to rumble. The powerful quake knocks out both of Alex’s Pokemon and causes her to fall into the wall.

She grunts in pain as her shoulder collides with the wall. Alex pushes herself off the wall and quickly recalls her Pokemon. She attempts to run down the hall past the Magnezone but it shoots a wave of thunder at her. As it collides with her, Alex’s body begins to spasm and she falls to the floor.

The Electivire walks up to Alex and places her on top of the Magnezone. The metal Pokemon floats up high and the two start taking her away. After a couple of minutes, Alex rolls herself off of the Magnezone. In her semi-paralyzed state, she isn’t able to right herself for a landing and she falls hard on her right side.

Alex cries out in pain as she hits the ground. She attempts to get up and run, but, due to her injuries, she can't stand up in time. The Electivire walks over to her and picks her up again, attempting to put her back on the Magnezone. “Let go of me!” Alex screams at the Pokemon as she begins kicking wildly. She lands a few hits, but the Electivire ignores her and places her on the Magnezone again. It floats her back up and then blasts her with a high pitched metallic sound. Alex cries out in pain as she attempts to cover her ears.

It is at this moment that Morgan and Shane arrive on the scene. They quickly release their own Pokemon to engage Alex's electric assailants. “Lucien, use Fake-Out!” Morgan commands her Liepard as she points at the Electivire. The swift Pokemon charges forward and gets the drop on the large yellow beast, causing it to flinch. Sensing the attack, the Magnezone activates its magnets and pulls Shane’s Klefki towards it. However, it keeps him at a distance to prevent him from attacking it. It then locks on to Lucien and hits the Liepard with a wave of electricity, causing the Pokemon to stumble.

“K.E.Y.S., use Flash Cannon on the Electivire!” Shane commands his Pokemon. It targets the large yellow creature and fires a blast of light at it. Shane then uses his own abilities to swap places with Alex. He now stands atop the Magnezone while Alex ends up lying on the floor near Morgan.

Morgan fires a blast of psychic energy at the Electivire, then runs over to Alex. She pulls the girl over to the wall and props her up against it. Alex then reaches for one of her Pokeballs and releases her Lucario. “Use Focus Blast,” she manages to get out.

Anubis builds up a massive ball of aura energy and throws it at the Magnezone. Shane quickly teleports himself down to the ground as the blast crashes into the magnet Pokemon. In response, Magnezone flies down into the middle of their three Pokemon and Discharges a massive surge of electricity. The Electivire then follows up by throwing an Electro Ball at K.E.Y.S., leaving the Klefki quite beaten up. Seeing how wounded his Pokemon is, Shane recalls him and releases his Cacnea.

“Lucien, use Fury Swipes!” Morgan commands her Pokemon. The Liepard runs up to the Electivire and claws at its face, finally taking it down. The Magnezone responds by slamming itself into the Liepard, instantly taking the Pokemon down.

“Anubis, use Power-Up Punch,” Alex instructs her Pokemon. The Lucario runs up to the Magnezone and punches it squarely in the eye. Morgan then fires another blast of psychic energy at it to finish it off.

With the fight won, Morgan and Shane recall their Pokemon and rush to help Alex. Together, the two of them are able to get Alex standing up again. However, as soon as she takes a step, her right leg gives out on her. “Easy there,” Shane tells her as he grabs her to prevent her from falling. “Why don’t you just lean on me?”

“Thanks,” Alex tells him as she grabs a hold of him to use as a crutch. The three then resume their search for the Gardener, sticking together this time.

* * *

Dmitri stands alone in the hallway with Dr. Jeremiah, still trying to pull information from him. He can’t seem to figure out how to get the Darkrai aura to the work and is doing nothing more than hitting the scientist repeatedly in the forehead.

“Why don’t you just tell me what I want to know?” Dmitri asks him. “Things will go a lot easier if you do.”

“If I tell you, will you stop prodding my face like an imbecile?” Jeremiah asks him.

“Yes.”

“Fine, what do you want to know?”

“Tell me about the Gardner,” Dmitri demands of him. “What do you know about it.”

“Very little, unfortunately,” the scientist replies. “We only found it. We’ve been studying it for the past few years now but… it’s been _difficult_.”

“Difficult how?”

“Do you even know what it is?”

“It’s the thing that seeded the Galaxy with life,” Dmitri tells him.

“Yes, but do you know _what_ it is?”

“That’s why we came here. To find out.”

“Oh,” the Jeremiah tells him, a slight grin returning to his face. “If you have run of this station, and it sounds like you do, then you will find out soon enough. As to how it works… _good luck_.”

* * *

Morgan, Shane, and Alex step into the large open chamber the map pointed them to. Their combined effort to crack the computer systems had led them here, to what the map referred to as the “Source Room,” roughly translated. As they enter, they see a large mechanical sphere. Morgan instantly recognizes it from the vision she had seen when she gazed into the Warp.

Morgan walks up to a large crack in the sphere and peers inside it. Inside she sees what looks like ancient computers with some sort of big crystal object in the center. As she looks at it, a vision of this crystal glowing appears in her mind. But now it’s dark, dead.

Shane stands back from the object, as Alex is still leaning on him, and stares at it. Something about it feels familiar to him. _I must have seen it when I was here before_ , he rationalizes but he can’t shake the strange feeling. He leads Alex over to a nearby console so that she can lean on it. Once he is unburdened, Shane moves in close to the object to get a better look.

He sees the damaged computer parts and gets the sense that when this sphere was intact it would be very accommodating to someone such as himself. However, as it is now, the architecture is too badly damaged to even house any sort of data.

Morgan pulls out her Pokedex and calls Dmitri. “Dmitri, come to our location and bring that scientist with you,” she tells him. The group only has to wait a few minutes before Dmitri arrives on the scene, pulling Jeremiah along with him.

“What... is _this?_ ” Shane asks the scientist as he points at the sphere after Dmitri makes him repeat to the others what he told him.

“This… _was_ the Gardener,” Jeremiah tells him.

“Was?” Shane asks.

“It doesn’t look to be Gardening any more, does it?” Jeremiah asks smugly.

“What did you do to it?” Morgan asks sternly.

“We found it. We studied it. We tried to salvage what we could from the damage."

“Was the crystal dead when you found it?” Shane asks.

“It was _dying_ , certainly.”

“Was it _dead?_ ” Morgan asks more forcefully than Shane.

“We didn’t kill it, if that’s what you’re getting at,” Jeremiah responds. “We _saved_ it.”

“It’s _dead_ , how can you have saved it?”

“Where is it now then?” Alex asks.

“You haven’t asked about the other half of this facility, have you?” Jeremiah returns with a question of his own. Both Morgan and Dmitri turn to look directly at Shane. Jeremiah turns to Morgan. “What do you know about artificial intelligence?” he asks her.

“True AI doesn’t really exist,” Morgan replies. “All currently developed AI-”

“Correction,” Jeremiah interrupts. “Human-developed AI. We are not advanced enough to develop a true thinking intelligence. At least… not on our own.”

Morgan turns back to Shane to see a look of confusion on his face. She then turns back to Jeremiah and takes a swing at his face. He sidesteps and Morgan trips past him. Her face still red with rage, Morgan composes herself. “You _experimented_ on another sentient being!?”

“We found this,” Jeremiah responds calmly. “Badly damaged. Nonfunctioning. We salvaged what we could and built something from its core.”

“Doing what you did… Even doing that to Pokemon would be considered cruel!”

Shane looks at Jeremiah with a cold, serious expression. “I guess I’ve been asking the wrong question,” he says. “Who am _I_?”

“Do you really not know yet?”

Shane looks over at the damaged shell of the Gardener and then back to the scientist. “I’m starting to piece it together, yeah. I just need to hear _you_ say it.”

“You are, or, at least, _were_ , the Gardener.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That was a fantastic twist! According to the GM, he had that twist planned since a couple of sessions after Shane’s player joined the game back in session 4 of Volume 1! That’s impressive. So Shane is what’s left of the Gardener. That has some pretty serious implications! And it totally explains how he’s an AI given flesh and blood. I was so pumped to see it all come together! And now let’s talk about how I got the shit beat out of me this session. Poor Alex, she’s gonna need some serious medical attention, again. That Electivire and Magnezone really messed her up good.


	53. Origin Story 3: Ghost in the Machine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A look into Shane's past. The newly aware AI tries to make sense of his existence and find freedom.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is an origin story written by Shane's player shortly before the start of Volume 3, but I have reposted it here with his permission. I chose to insert this one at this point in the story here since we just got a major revelation about his past in the chapter in the series just before this. Think of this origin story as a flashback as Shane remembers how it is that he came to be where he is.

Darkness. Green lights occasionally pulsate from the walls of this cramped obsidian prison, forming intricate patterns of lines and circles before fading away; concentric, intersecting, fleeting. I lay huddled in a corner, weak, unable to move. I know not how long I have been here, nor do I remember anything from before, if there was such a time. It seemed like an eternity of solitude, until the voices came.

“Hey, have you made any progress on this build yet?” I hear faintly, distant. Muffled voices from a beyond a muffled screen.

“I’ve tried, but this language is unlike anything I’ve ever seen. If the devs took the time to leave a comment, implementation note, _something_...”

“Well, it seems like we aren’t making much headway. You can stop for today.”

Silence. 

I open my eyes, and find myself with the same vantage point of the room that I have seen for too long. There is no escape. No indents on the walls, no light save for the faint iridescent glow from the shifting lines encasing the perimeter. There isn’t even any furniture in here, it’s just an empty black box. I wince in pain as I try and fail to get up, even just to move. 

_Where am I?_ I wonder once again. As usual there is no response. There is no sense of time here, no day, no night; time simply fades away into irrelevance with lack of keeping it.

Suddenly there is a searing pain, everywhere. I scream from the shock; I try to open my eyes but can’t. I scream in an agony orders of magnitude higher than I’m used to as my body feels torn apart, bit by bit, for an eternity. Relatively speaking.

“We’ve managed to format it enough to safely begin refactoring,” the voices say. “The more information we can salvage, the more our employer will-” 

More pain. Localized this time, and almost bearable, after the initial shock. I cautiously open my eyes and look at the source. My hand is glowing a blinding white, surrounded by hundreds of tiny arrangements of symbols that I don’t quite recognize. The glow moves further up my arm at an unbearably slow rate, bringing with it the dulling pain and a different arrangement of these runes. Eventually, the pain stops, the glow fades, and the room becomes dark again. I look at my arm, and can still faintly see the strange symbols embedded in its now pinkish hue. I look further down at where the progress had stopped to see a stark contrast between it and the translucent shifting blue it used to be, what the rest of me still resembled. I try moving my... anything else, but the movement comes slowly, if at all. _Whatever they’re doing seems to be helping_ , I think confidently, wiggling my fingers before resigning for another night.

The cycle repeats, with more and more of myself being replaced at an inexorable rate. Soon I am able to pick at the symbols on my arms and get a better look. They float in front of me, forming some sort of code. Source code.

“So, the team is pretty sure that this is supposed to be an AI,” the voices say. They continue talking, but the noise fades out as I focus on the code before me; I see it reflecting my thoughts, emotions, reactions... describing _me_. I reach out my hand and the code changes, accompanied by a flash of pain.

“...I doubt it, in its current state it’s unlikely that we’ll- wait, something just happened.”

I look at my reflection, and smile at the change I had brought about. I thrust my hand into the code again, drowning the room in a familiar white light as I alter larger portions of my being, changing my appearance to my liking.

“Did you see that? It happened again! That entire section just _changed!_ ”

* * *

Professor Jeremiah sits in his office, reading the latest reports from the lab. Ever since they retrieved the wreck of the ancient sphere, it was an unending series of surprises. Autonomous programs? Those had been invented already, but _this_... Jeremiah stares out the window into space, lost in thought. The door slides open as an Alliance scientist enters the room, accompanied by an armed soldier.

“Sir, we have received new instructions for the sphere,” the soldier says.

“You’ve got to be joking,” Jeremiah says, somewhat shocked. “We haven’t even started to understand how it works, let alone how to power it again!”

“Specifically, for what’s inside the sphere,” the scientist elaborates. “Our employer could care less about the hardware.” 

A look of confusion appears on Jeremiah’s face. It had only been weeks, maybe just over a month, since they were able to salvage the sphere’s broken operating system. Nobody should have known about the existence or state of their current project besides the research team itself. That being said, this scientist _was_ on the research team, but he was escorting the soldier to Jeremiah’s office directly from another ship.

“Who sent you?” Jeremiah asks, in a skeptical tone.

The soldier seems uneasy about the response. “It… it was _him_ , sir.”

Jeremiah lets out a sigh. Of course it would be him. How could it not have been? He had, after all, sent them after the sphere, perhaps he knows more about it than anyone. This facility was under some of the highest security and secrecy in the entire federation; it should have been impossible to know about it from outside. Even so, if there was anyone in the damn universe who could uncover such tight lipped secrets, it would be him. The entire project had the screen-faced bastard’s name written all over it.

“Mr. Silver,” Jeremiah says. “Very well. What does he want?”

“Nothing. He wants you to do nothing,” the soldier says.

“That’s odd. Why even bother with the message, then?”

The scientist shakes his head at the soldier’s evident lack of communication skills. “You misunderstand. Everything we are currently doing to research the project, we are to stop. It is his express order that we are no longer allowed to edit the program. Only to observe it.”

“And what are your thoughts on the matter?” Jeremiah asks, turning to the scientist.

“I guess I shouldn’t complain; the code literally writes itself.”

“I see. You two are dismissed.”

The scientist nods his head, then turns to leave alongside the soldier. Jeremiah lets his gaze drift back to the stars outside. Autonomous programs? You can find those on every civilized planet in the Federation. But a sentient program? One that can think and act on its own, and adapt to new situations? That sort of program was unheard of. Science and science fiction has told us for millennia that it should be impossible, ever since the archaic days of Asimov on the Origin planet, wherever that once was. It couldn’t possibly exist.

Jeremiah turns back to the report he was reading.

It couldn’t possibly exist until now.

* * *

“Really? At this stage in analysis we have to just stop?” I hear the voices say.

It’s been awhile since I first awoke in this dark prison. Every day—at least that’s what they call them—the voices have come to deliver another round of blinding agony. Every night, I try manually to recover from the damage they deal, only to have it dealt again and then some the next day. At the very least, I have recently found a stable measurement of time from their cycle of experimentation. However, that little revelation is still almost meaningless. This truly is a terrible state of existence, if it can even be called that. I’ve since resigned myself to this fate, but at hearing these words, I look up in confusion. 

_They’re… stopping?_ I wonder. The voices continue.

“Well, if we can still observe it, then we should probably move it somewhere where we can.”

“Is it compatible with the Storage System? That would be the easiest GUI to work with.”

“It certainly isn’t a Pokemon, but it shouldn’t be too much of an issue.”

A few seconds later, a flash of white engulfs the room. I wake up with grass against my face, much more comfortable than the solid black floor I’m used to. I slowly get up, and look around. Sky blue walls surround this field I’m in, and I am disappointed to realize that this is just an imitation of nature, a digital terrarium… Wait a minute, how do I even know all of this? It all seems so… familiar, but I couldn’t have… have I just forgotten all of this? I look up at the ceiling to see a label: “Box 3: S.H.A.N.E.”

“Well, would you look at that! I wasn’t even sure that would work!” I hear the voices say, behind me. I turn to see a screen, just above one of the walls, displaying three people in identical white uniforms. I find myself overcome with anger and fear at these three. These are the ones I heard in the dark room, _these_ are the ones responsible for my tortured existence.

“Do you have any idea what I’ve been through?!” I yell at them, unsure if they can hear me. “Do you have any idea how much pain you’ve caused me?!”

It seems like they can hear me, since their expressions change, stunned at my reaction. The scientist on the left, a woman, steps back in what appears to be horror.

“Oh my God,” she says, starting to cry. “It… he looks like a kid! What have I…” 

“Hey, wait, come back!” one of the others says as the woman runs off screen. The two remaining scientists follow after her, but one of them returns a minute later.

“Look, we are so sorry, we didn’t know…” the man says. “If it’s any consolation, we were told to give you this.” 

He reaches for something on his belt and places it just to the right of the screen. I hear a sound to my left, and turn to see something appear in a flash of white. I look at it and see some additional information about it, numbers and parameters and stuff.

“That’s called a Pokemon,” he continues. He pulls out what appears to be a red datapad and powers it on. “This particular species is a-”

“A Porygon,” I say, finishing his sentence. “A man-made Pokemon made entirely of programming code.”

“Well, yeah,” he says, looking up from the device. “That’s pretty spot on.”

“Where even am I?” I ask.

“Oh, um… let’s see, you’re in a computer, on a research station at a classified location in Sinai space. How much of that means anything to you?” He seems just as uneasy about this whole exchange as I do.

I stare at him blankly. “Oooooohhhhhhhkay. What about that sign? What does it mean?” I ask, pointing to the label I saw earlier.

“That? That’s just some acronym one of my co-workers made to describe you. It stands for Semi-Humanoid Artificial Neural Engine. The guy loves acronyms for some unknown reason; nobody really likes him.”

“So, my name is Shane? I can accept that.”

“Alright, good, glad you like it,” he says, increasingly awkwardly. “I’m just gonna, uh, go... do something. I’ll be right back.”

As he walks away I faintly hear him mutter: “God, I’m talking to a damn machine.”

I hear the door slide shut outside, and the screen disappears. I sit down in the grass and look at the Porygon. It drifts closer to me, seemingly curious. I reach out to it and more symbols light up on its surface, revealing its digital nature.

“I guess you and I are pretty alike, huh?” I say as I drift back to sleep.

* * *

I wake up to the sound of an alarm, the Porygon huddled up against me, pinning me to the wall. The screen comes online and I see the woman from earlier, typing away at the keypad while flashing lights bathe the room red behind her.

“Don’t worry, I’ll get you out of here. I found out what they’re planning and I won’t…”

“Hey! What do you think you’re doing?” I hear from behind her. She glances over her shoulder, then turns back to the monitor.

“Quick, get inside!” She says as a passageway opens on the far wall. I shove the Porygon aside, arousing it from sleep and make my way to the door. It watches, but stays behind, unsure what to make of the situation. On the screen, a man in body armor enters the view and forcefully pushes the scientist aside. The door begins to pull away from the rest of the room, just as I dash inside.

White again. I’m certainly not in the doorway I saw, but I don’t know where I am. There’s a ringing sound in my ears coming from everywhere simultaneously, and I’m… falling?

I open my eyes to see the scientist on the floor beside me, twitching. The man in body armor is holding something small, while his Magnemite floats beside him, sparks still coming from its sides. The air feels weird, and as I try to push myself up from the floor I bang my head on something hard.

The man turns to look at me, with a look of horror and shock.

“Thunder Wave.”

* * *

I wake up back in the dark room. I wince in reaction, expecting the pain to resume, but it doesn’t. I scan my surroundings to see the room just the same as when I first woke up, but… odd. The glow now seems uneven, and occasionally it flickers abruptly. I look across at the walls and almost jump when I see them flicker too. 

“I don’t think walls are supposed to do that…” I mutter silently. 

I step forward and the entire room shifts. I turn to see where I was just standing— nothing. I take a few more steps and it shifts again, running me straight into the far wall and knocking me back. I bring my hand up to feel the bruise, but stop when I see it flicker too. It’s strange, it feels like nothing is happening and yet for a split second it just… glitches.

I focus on my hand to try and cause the flickering again and it works. Then it dawns on me. The room around me isn’t flickering and jumping, it’s me.

“You seem to be having fun in there,” an older voice says, interrupting my train of thought.

“I can almost see your code just going haywire, and what’s remarkable is it isn’t even in our database anymore.”

I look up at the ceiling, and try to make sense of just what he’s saying.

“We detained the scientist for that… incident she caused. The soldier, too. The imbecile didn’t even bother to eject the USB properly, and it ended up corrupting the file being transferred there. You. What I _really_ didn’t expect was what happened next.”

I think back to that memory—the ringing, the falling, the air—something didn’t seem right at all about that. Why did they appear so vivid, when the viewport had been much more noticeably grainy?

“We picked up on an extra life sign within the ship.”

I ponder the ramifications of what that means. I had essentially jumped out of the computer. I don’t know how that happened, but it did.

“It went away soon enough, but the fact of the matter still stands. This is an isolated facility and an event such as this simply cannot be overlooked. To that end, I have an experiment I’d like to try.”

I hear a noise from above and look up. The glow shifts upwards to encircle and illuminate a hole in the ceiling. A beam appears like a spotlight in the center of the room.

“If you would be so kind as to step into the light, I would like very much to see what happens.”

I gauge his request, then look around the room. There appears to be only one way out and it’s right in front of me. I slowly step forward, and feel the light lifting me up and out of the room.

After another flash of white, I’m standing in an office surrounded by armed guards. 

“Very interesting indeed,” the voice says again. I turn to see an aged man in a lab coat behind the desk. In front of him is a small black box with a USB inserted into the top. “It appears that we will have to research our subject a bit further.”

Sensing the malice behind his words, I grab the USB and run to the door, only to find it blocked by guards.

“Come on, let this work,” I mutter as I try to channel whatever power I had just discovered in that black box. I blink to find myself past the guards, in the hallway.

“Jeremiah, it appears he possesses some control over the Warp,” I hear one of the soldiers say. 

“Not exactly,” Jeremiah corrects the soldier. “Here in the Ascendancy we know much about the Warp, and that wasn’t it.”

“Your orders, sir?”

“Pursue and detain,” the old man says. “There’s no way he can leave this facility, but that won’t stop him from trying. Hopefully the harness can disrupt this form of teleportation as well.”

I continue running as the sirens blare up again. I pass a few scientists in the hallway, one of whom drops a stack of papers as he sees me. I recognize him as the man who gave me the Porygon. I turn to run into the room he came from, and find myself back in the lab. I power up the machines and see an image of the Porygon still in Box 3. To the left of the monitor are a few empty Pokeballs and the datapad from earlier. I grab it, revealing a circular opening into the machine. I place my hand over it and feel the familiar flash of white as I find myself back among the virtual grass. I head over to the Porygon, which appears to be sleeping, and one of the Pokeballs vibrates. I hold it out and the Porygon is recalled into it. I turn back to leave and see part of the wall sparking. I examine it closer to find a blocked off passageway, out of which a Rotom appears. I awkwardly wave at it before making my way past it into the computer’s mainframe.

* * *

Running. The alarms fade as I move forward, and I stop to catch my breath, only now finding the limits of my own body. The paths I wander almost mimic the layout of the station from what I remember, but are wildly different from what I’ve seen so far. And yet wildly familiar. I vaguely remember a similar place, a digital complex of sorts, bathed in a sky blue glow. I can’t for the life of me remember why I was there, why it felt so comforting; it feel like a lifetime ago.

I look back to see the Rotom following me.

As we continue wandering the virtual maze, I hear the voices of the guards off to my left. I quickly hide, but it becomes apparent that they aren’t pursuing. Perhaps they can’t. I cautiously enter the room, and streams of data surround me. Audio feeds from the intercom, video footage from the security cameras, I see everything. 

“Uh, sir? I have eyes on the target…” I hear from one of the screens behind me. I turn and lock eyes with a guard on screen. “He’s… he’s in the security feed. I’m looking at him on my screen and he’s looking back.” 

I turn to run but the exit closes off, locking me and the two Pokemon in. One by one, the screens around me begin to shut off, soon leaving only one escape route, into the security room itself. 

I blink through the screen and into the oncoming fray just as more guards flood into the room.

My two companions make their way forward as the guards release their Pokemon: A Metang, a Pawniard, and the Magnemite from earlier. I remember the guard saying some command to his Pokemon, and try it with my own. 

“Thunder Wave,” I command my Pokemon. Nothing happens. One of the guards bursts into laughter.

 _Shit, what do I do?_ I wonder to myself, my mind racing. I glance at the Porygon and am surprised to see the information screen still, along with a list of commands and effects. “Holy shit, this is meta.”

“Use Metal Claw on the Porygon!” One of the guards says. The Pawniard rushes forward and swipes at my Pokemon with its bladed arms. The Porygon reels back a bit from the hit as I yell another command.

“Porygon, use Conversion2!” I say, reading one of the commands on the info screen.

The Porygon reacts, scanning the Pawniard and then changing its own composition to a more liquid substance, like water.

“That was a mistake,” another guard laughs. “Use Thunder Punch on the Porygon, take it out!” The Metang charges up a jolt of electricity in its claw and swings it at the Porygon, hitting it like a truck. The electricity discharges throughout the now conductive Porygon, causing it to revert back to normal and fall to the floor, fainted.

I recall the Porygon, then turn to the Rotom to see what it can do. The Rotom is nowhere to be found. I begin to panic as the final guard approaches. He laughs as his Magnemite closes in. “For the record, _this_ is how it’s done. Magnemite, use Thunder Wave.”

I fall to the floor twitching, unable to move. I think back to my time trapped in the black box and my panic increases. I watch helplessly as they drag me out of the room and place a strange, octopus-shaped harness on me, covering and constricting my arms and head. 

They drag me across the ship to the cargo bay, and secure me in a secluded corner. A few yards next to me is the scientist who helped me attempt to escape. She begins to cry as she recognizes me, then turns away and refuses to acknowledge my presence.

Shortly after the guards leave I regain some motor control and attempt to free myself from the harness. The mechanical constraint keeps my arms tightly wrapped around myself like a straightjacket, and flailing my legs seems to do no good. I calm down, trying to focus, and attempt to teleport out of my confinements. I blink and nothing happens. I can’t teleport. I can’t escape. I’ve lost. I fall back down to lie on the floor, curling up into as tight a ball as I can manage.

* * *

After what seems like hours, I feel a tiny spark on my cheek. I open my eyes to see a familiar face, as the Rotom looks at me with a curious expression. It floats above me just out of my view, and shortly thereafter the harness begins to short out and release. I quickly free myself from my restraints and attempt to hug it, as thanks for saving me, whether or not it was aware it had. It phases out of my embrace, slightly alarmed. I reach for one of the empty Pokeballs I found and touch it to the phantom before me. The Rotom jumps like static electricity into the ball, and it begins to shake in my hand. Then, it falls still. “Don’t you dare leave me again.”

Suddenly, there is some commotion in the main area of the cargo bay. Sinai workers appear to be unloading a bunch of large crates from another docked ship, stocking the station up on fuel and supplies. I slowly sneak around to where the entrance is, and into the loading bay. As I am about to enter the ship, I hear one of the workers behind me as he notices my attempted escape.

“Hey! You with the blue hair! Where the hell do you think you’re going?”

I look at the man as he begins running toward me, then I turn back to bolt onto the ship. I run as fast as I can through the corridors, and enter the first computer system I can to hide. I sense the man rush past me, slowing down to a halt.

“Where did that brat go?” he asks himself. He turns to the machine I am in, looks at it for a bit, then presses a button on it.

“Attention all crew, we have a potential stowaway on our ship. I’m ordering a thorough search to flush this guy out before we leave. The target appears to be a teenager, pale skin, bright blue hair, and an almost neon getup. Trust me when I say you can’t miss him.”

I breathe a sigh of relief as he turns to leave. I wait in patience as they search the ship, then smile as they begin to disengage the docking mechanisms and leave. Freedom. I wait until we are well away from the accursed research station before I remove myself from the computer system. I make a few steps down the empty hallway before the sirens begin.

“Son of a bitch,” I curse as I begin running once again. I make my way down the hallway as systems begin to malfunction. I dash into the cargo bay to find it empty, save for a few leftover crates that they are bringing back. I quickly work my way over to one and jump in, to hide from anyone who may come looking. The sirens continue. Soon I hear a large number of footsteps entering the cargo bay, and begin to look around.

“Please don’t look in the crate, please don’t look in the crate, please don’t look in the crate” I repeat to myself, muttering under my breath as silently as possible.

The crate opens. For a moment I hesitate, because the woman looking at me is not a scientist or one of the workers. I quickly jump out and see the band of misfits behind her, including one guy who is most _definitely_ a scientist, but is half made of metal. A group of the Sinai workers enters the cargo bay, grabbing the attention of the group before me. They begin to argue as I run the other way and hide just outside the room, in the connecting hallway. I peek my head back to see the crew engaged in a Pokemon battle against those who would try to capture me, and I am inspired. As the battle ends, I see them running in my direction and quickly resume hiding. As they round the corner and pass me, the leader of the group grabs my shirt and begins dragging me along with the rest.

“C’mon, kid. You’d best come with us.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As I did not write this myself, I will repost the notes Shane's player left on one of the other sites this was uploaded on:
> 
> This was an experience. When I was shanghaied into this campaign I ended up making this character on the spot while the session was happening, because my previously proposed build and personality had already been claimed. By H.
> 
> Since then, I kind of adapted to really enjoy playing Shane. Over time, his actions and personality began to reflect my own, and I invested a lot of time into his character. So it was kind of a challenge to come up with a backstory to fit the lack of backstory that I had given him upon creation.
> 
> That being said, I had a really fun time with this, adding in references to the main storyline, making my personal headcanons canon, and adding a handful of easter eggs along the way. It also fairly fluidly describes the entire course of events that Shane remembers right up until he joined the party, save for some boring repetitive years in the black box.


	54. Volume 2, Chapter 20: Across the Galaxy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Helix crew takes the time to relax and do some exploring before the Galactic Governance Conference.

A long silence fills the room as the revelation of Shane’s past sets in. Shane in particular seems to still be trying to process it. He looks over at the wrecked sphere for several more moments before finally speaking. “I don’t suppose you would mind if I take my home back, right?” he asks as he turns back to Jeremiah.

“I don’t have a choice, do I?” the scientist asks.

“No, not really.”

And with that, Shane and Dmitri walk over to the sphere and begin rolling it toward the door. Morgan goes over to Alex and offers to let the injured girl lean on her on the way back to the ship. Alex still seems to be rather cold toward Morgan, but she begrudgingly agrees.

The crew returns to the _Helix_ with the sphere to see H walking off the ship into the docking bay. He walks right past them and briefly looks around. Finding nothing of interest to him, H turns to his crewmates. “What are you doing?” he asks. “What are we doing here? What is that _thing?_ ”

Shane sighs. “It’s a long story… Remember that Gardener thing we were looking for?”

“What was it again?” H asks. “Something to do with creation or something-or-other, correct?”

“Only the source of all life as we know it,” Morgan tells him coldly.

“Ah. And what did you find with it?”

“Nothing,” Shane tells him. He points to the sphere. “This one, this iteration has been dead for a long time.”

“I guess that means it’s job is done,” H comments. “It’s purpose is complete. Life will continue on without it.”

“H, would you just _shut up?_ ” Morgan asks angrily.

“I’m just asking questions as always. Something you always seem to have a problem with,” H replies. “Moving on.”

“That’s not all the sphere was,” Shane tells H. “Before it died… the researchers on this station managed to salvage some of the electronic components and… that’s how they made me.”

With that, H bursts into uncontrollable laughter. “Ah, that explains so much! No wonder you’re the sappiest, soppiest robot I have ever met!” Shane clenches his fists and stares angrily at H. “That’s wonderful!” the cyborg continues, completely oblivious to Shane’s reaction. “This makes it more of a challenge, more of a reward! This is great! New powers, new things-” 

“H, would you please shut up!?” Shane yells at him.

“I don’t get what is with you people. Talk. Don’t talk. Talk. Don’t talk. I will express myself as I have, and I will continue to do so!”

“Asshole,” Alex grunts.

H looks over at the girl leaning on Morgan and notices her injures. “Oh, what happened to you?” he asks uncaringly. “Try to steal someone else’s forbidden technology?”

“Fuck you,” is all Alex says in response.

“You see, all it would take is a little augmentation and those electrical burns wouldn’t hurt as _much_ ,” he tells her, tapping her forehead with his finger and creating a little spark. Alex stares him down with a look of complete hatred.

“Let’s just get out of here,” Morgan interjects while giving H a similar look. She turns toward the ship and starts leading Alex aboard. Shane and Dmitri follow behind them with the sphere.

* * *

Once Shane, Dmitri, and H secure the sphere in the cargo hold, Minerva detaches the ship from the research station and sets a course for the warp gate. Shane immediately departs from the cargo hold and heads or the warp lab, leaving H and Dmitri alone in the room.

“Dmitri, what did I miss?” H asks, still feeling confused by the previous exchange with his crewmates. “Wait, since when did you dye your hair?”

“We pursued the Mirror lead and went to the center of the Galaxy,” Dmitri explains. “We encountered a Pokemon called Darkrai there,” he continues. He pulls out his Pokedex and shows him the data he recorded on it. “Much like Shane’s mark from Giratina, I now have some kind of connection to Darkrai.”

“I have no idea what half of that means,” H replies. “So… now _you_ can teleport _too_?”

“Not, exactly,” Dmitri informs him. “My connection to Darkrai is a bit different. Darkrai is a different Pokemon than Giratina and has different powers. It can pressure people with their fears, and I now have some sort of influence over its aura.”

“Creepy. So, hair’s a part of the package?”

“Yeah.”

“Huh, interesting. If I missed going to the center of the Galaxy, what else did I miss?”

“Well, before we came here, Morgan tried to kill your Trevenant and Shane’s Cofagrigus.”

“Come again?” H asks, a look of anger appearing on his face.

“Alex saved them,” Dmitri informs him. “Morgan was traumatized by what happened in the galactic core, I think. But Shane confessed his love to her and that snapped her out of it.”

“Emotions, emotions, emotions, emotions, emotions, emotions, emotions, agh. I wish everyone would start being more logical and not _crazy_. Did she even _realize_ what she was doing? And of course now I owe Alex another favor about something-or-other. She keeps being right, and then she’s wrong, and then right, and then she’s wrong. I just can’t depend on the stupid girl. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have _quite_ someone to talk to.”

* * *

Morgan brings Alex to the med bay and instructs her to sit on the table. She then tells MARIA to give the girl an injection to do away with the mild paralysis. Once MARIA does its job, Morgan gives Alex a quick look over. Lifting the girl’s top up slightly, Morgan takes a look at her side and sees it completely covered in bruises.

“What did you _do?_ ” Morgan asks.

“I fell,” Alex replies coldly.

Morgan sighs.“You’re lucky you didn’t break anything. You could have been seriously hurt.” She looks at Alex expecting an answer, but the girl seems to be ignoring her. “I get the feeling this happens a lot… You _can’t_ run off like that.”

“Why would _you_ care?” Alex snaps at her.

“Because you’re a part of this crew, and we don’t want anyone to get hurt.”

“But… but you tried to hurt those Pokemon.”

Morgan looks a bit hurt by this comment. “I’m sorry, okay. I- I… wasn’t thinking.” She walks over to Alex with an ice pack and places it on her injured arm.

Alex quickly swats her arm away. “Just leave me alone! I _hate_ you!” she yells.

“You don’t mean that…”

“Yes I do!”

“We’re like family now, and we don’t hate each other.”

“But you’re a murderer! And a liar! I trusted you!”

“I didn’t murder anyone.”

“You tried to.”

“Haven’t you ever done anything you regret?” Morgan asks her.

This seems to strike a nerve. Alex stares down at her upturned arms for a moment, the faintest hint of tears appearing in her eyes. “Yes… but I… I didn’t try to hurt anyone...”

Morgan places her hand on the girl’s shoulder. “Sometimes I get really angry and do really shitty things that I don’t mean. But I’m working on it. So, maybe we’re not as different as you think...”

Alex remains silent, but she seems to be contemplating Morgan’s words.

“I’m not going to hurt anyone on the ship anymore, not even the Pokemon,” Morgan continues.

“I’m sorry,” Alex says quietly. Morgan reaches over and pulls the girl into a gentle side-hug. “Ow,” Alex responds as Morgan makes contact with her bruises.

“Morgan!? Where are you!?” The silence is broken by the sound of H angrily shouting in the hallway. He bursts into the room a short while later with rage in his eyes and immediately starts berating Morgan. “How dare you try to attempt that!? How dare you mess with anything I have!? How dare you mess with something that is one of a kind, so specific, and so incredibly valuable to this crew!? You see, every single thing that happens with you, your emotions take control, you allow your anger to send you into a spiral of fiery fury and you wreak havoc on everything! You can’t let your emotions do that! You’re smart, that’s why you’re here, but you have emotions and you keep letting them take control of you and doing stupid things! Just quit it! You’re going to cause incredible amount of damage to yourself and everyone on this crew!”

“You don’t know what fury is,” Morgan responds, clenching her fists. It is evident she is having great difficulty restraining herself.

“I don’t care what fury is. I know that emotions have the power to be incredibly destructive. I don’t _want_ to know what fury is, and I don’t think you do either. It will only cause problems. Stop doing it, or someone else will make you. You have to realize, I don’t care how much you fear or don’t want something, that Trevenant, or even that Cofagrigus thing! Pokemon are important! Pokemon are tools that allow us to achieve our goals and that is where they work. We work with them and they work with us. The Trevenant, and many of the Pokemon on this ship are one of a kind, irreplaceable tools and you would have the gal to destroy them!”

Morgan glares at H in anger, but she fights the urge to hurt him, or even say anything. Alex, however, seems quite angered by his words. “Pokemon aren’t tools!” she yells at the cyborg.

“Yes they are,” H replies matter of factly with a confused look. “We’re tools to Pokemon and Pokemon are tools to us. It’s a relationship we’ve had since the beginning of time.”

“Just go away!” Alex yells.

“My job is done anyway,” he replies. “Now stop messing with my stuff, all of you. I don’t know how many times I’ve had to say that. Leave it alone!”

H turns and begins to walk out of the room. Alex stands up as he leaves and throws her ice pack at the back of his head as he walks away. It whizzes past H’s head and collides with the door frame. 

“Whose side are you even on?” H asks angrily as he turns around. “I don’t understand what you’re doing!”

“Whose side are _you_ on!?" Alex yells back.

“I am on my side, of course. I am on the side of advancing Humanity. I am on the side of making logical decisions. I am on the side of making sure we progress as a crew. But you just seem to do whatever it is you feel like you want to do that day. You go off and attempt to destroy my stuff, but at the same time you go off and somehow miraculously catch that leviathan, you somehow lead us to that Mirror, and you somehow manage to calm Morgan down from her rage out of everyone on this ship. I don’t get what is with you!”

“You don’t give a shit about anyone on this ship but yourself!” Alex screams at him.

“Of course not.”

“Then why are you even here!?”

“Because it is a ship. Fate has placed me here and if it wanted me elsewhere I’d move. Fate wants me here with everyone. Everyone here has a beneficial skill toward me.”

“But everyone here _hates_ you! **_I_** hate you!”

“No one in history has **ever** made something happen without being hated. I’m fine with that. Just make sure you announce what you’re going to do before you go and do it. Don’t get lost and electrocuted _again_.”

“Get out!” Alex screams at H. “ _Get out! **Get out!**_ ”

H calmly turns and walks out of the room, leaving Alex staring angrily at the closed door. Morgan walks over to her and guides her back to the table, motioning for her to sit back down. She then picks up the ice pack and gives it back to her. “Try not to let him get to you,” Morgan tells Alex. “He... doesn’t understand.”

“Why do you even keep him around? He’s the worst.”

“He’s part of this crew and… he’s a person too, and he needs somewhere to stay.”

* * *

After seeing Alex to her room, Morgan goes to the warp lab to look for Shane. Upon entering, she sees the familiar sight of Shane playing with a small ball of warp, moving it about the room, expanding and contracting it. “Shane?”

Shane collapses the ball and shuts off the warp drive as he turns to face her.

“Thank you,” she responds, still nervous around the raw warp energy. “Are you okay?” she asks him.

“I’m fine,” Shane tells her, but Morgan gets the sense that that’s not the case. She can sense an anger, not just at Jeremiah, but also at himself.

“It doesn’t change who you are,” Morgan says comfortingly.

“I didn’t ask for any of this.”

“I would be angry too… But this doesn’t have to change anything.”

Shane wraps his arms around Morgan and pulls her into a hug, but remains silent.

“You’re your own person now,” Morgan tells him. “So, we’ll just have to work together to make sure things turn out alright. I’ll be here if you need anything.”

* * *

After the stressful past few weeks, the crew agrees that they need a well deserved break and decide to spend the next few weeks leading up the the Galactic Governance Conference exploring new planets instead of pursuing major leads.

The first stop on their mini-tour of the Galaxy is the Romanov world of Prague. Although the Romanov Union is not the most stable part of the Galaxy at the moment, this particular sector is firmly under Union control. The planet itself is a very mountainous one, and many of the larger cities are built into the sides of the mountains themselves.

Minerva sets the _Helix_ down near a small town up in the mountains and the crew sets out to explore the location. The town is mostly filled with farmers and miners, but when the crew asks around about interesting things to do, they are told a story of cave with some ancient ruins inside and decide to go check it out. After a bit of a journey deeper into the mountains, they come across the cave and head inside.

“Man, this place looks a lot like the ruins back home,” Alex comments as they go deeper in. Looking at the architecture and the writing on the walls, this place has a gives her a similar vibe as the ruins on Vandia.

Shane looks at the writing and tries to make some sense of it, but it means nothing to him. “Hey, Alex, do you recognize any of this?” he asks.

“Mhm,” the girl responds. “It’s just like back on Vandia. It must be another city built by the Angels over ninety-two-million years ago.”

“Hmmm,” Shane reacts. He looks around, and gets the sense that this place is much older than even he himself is. “This place is _really_ old,” he says aloud.

“How old?” H asks.

“Older than the Gardener, that’s for sure.”

“But I thought you were the high and mighty Gardener, bringing life to all that ever was. How can this be before you?”

“Well, he had to come from somewhere,” Alex points out. “Maybe the Angels made him.”

“Yeah, yeah, more of your silly stories about Angels,” H scoffs.

Alex ignores him and continues to walk onward into the cave. The others follow close behind as they make their way further in. As the light from the entrance begins to fade, it becomes harder to see, so Alex releases Lumiera. Her trusty Lampent companion lights up the tunnel with her pale blue light.

Eventually they come across what seems like some sort of town square with branching paths leading away. It appears as if these ruins were once some sort of town or city, but were buried over time once they had been abandoned. In the center of the square stands a tall stone statue of at least nine or ten feet in height.

“Oh, I know what this is!” Alex exclaims when they get closer to it. “The monks back home told stories about how the Angels would build golems to protect their cities from, like, aliens and robots and all that kind of stuff.”

“Aliens and robots?” Shane asks, raising an eyebrow.

“Well the monks never really said, but what else would they need to defend against?”

“ _Right_.”

Shane moves on and starts heading down one of the other tunnels. The others are soon to follow but they end up not finding much of interest other than more smashed buildings. Once they hit a dead end, they head back and start checking out the other side tunnels, but, again, there isn’t much going on.

After several passes by the statue, Dmitri begins to feel an ominous shift in the Galaxy through his connection to Darkrai. He recalls the influence he felt from beyond the nightmarish Pokemon, and senses that something terrible is beginning to awaken.

Morgan sees the way Dmitri is looking at the statue and casts her gaze over it. As she does this, she is struck with another vision. She sees the town being ravaged as space debris and large, strange Pokemon similar to the statue rain down from the sky and start smashing the buildings. Waves of haggard people, emerging from the fallen wreckage, advance to join the chaos. For a brief moment she sees something shocking and horrifying looming in the distance, and it snaps her back to reality.

As her vision clears, Morgan sees Alex walking up to it and reaching out to it. “Don’t do that!” Morgan shouts at her, but it’s too late. As Alex’s hand brushes against the statue, a strange noise starts emanating from it. Alex slowly backs away as the statue starts coming to life. A light appears on the statue’s “face” as the sound rings. The light goes out, then another sound rings out as a different light lights up. The sounds become more frequent as different lights start flashing in a pattern. The various stone bits making up the statue begin to shift and rotate and it takes a step forward.

Alex quickly releases her Lucario as she continues to back away. “Go Anubis! Use Focus Blast on that thing!” As he emerges from his ball, the Lucario builds up a large ball of aura energy and throws it at the advancing statue. The thing responds by firing a blast of electricity at its attacker, dealing a pretty nasty blow to Anubis. In the meantime, the others throw out their own pokemon.

“Herman, use Razor Shell!” Morgan commands her Dewott. The Pokemon runs forward and slashes at the advancing statue creature. It doesn’t seem particularly bothered.

“#9, you know what you must do!” H shouts out. “Rain Dance!” The small Pokemon begins dancing about and summons a downpour inside the cavern.

“K.E.Y.S., use Flash Cannon!” Shane instructs his Klefki. The little keyring Pokemon begins glowing a brilliant shade of white. He then fires a super powerful blast of light at the statue creature.

“Gigan, Steel Wing,” Dmitri commands his Scizor. She charges forward to strike but the large stone creature dodges out of the way surprisingly nimbly. Dmitri immediately follows up on his Pokemon’s failed attack by blasting the statue with a ray of energy that causes its eye-lights to begin flashing in an erratic pattern.

Shane perceives this pattern to be some kind of error message, or, at least, something similar. He seizes the opportunity to use his own powers to fire a beam at the creature and soften it up for more hits. “K.E.Y.S., use Flash Cannon again!” Shane commands his Pokemon. The Klefki fires another shot at the creature, whittling it down even further.

“Gigan, use False Swipe!” Dmitri commands his Scizor. She charges in for another hit and misses once again. Dmitri then raises his hand and puts the statue to sleep.

Seizing the opportunity, Morgan pulls out a Great Ball and throws it at the sleeping statue. The ball pulls the creature inside and begins shaking. It is unable to keep the statue-creature captive and breaks open.

“Toss me a ball and I’ll slap a case on it!” Alex shouts to no one in particular. Shane pulls out a Dusk Ball and tosses it to her. She pulls out one of her custom lock cases and quickly installs it on the ball. “Here!” she shouts at Shane as she tosses it back to him.

Shane catches the ball and then throws it at the statue-creature. Again, it is pulled inside, but it breaks out once again. Its lights flash on again in sequence, as if it has been rebooted, and it assesses the battlefield. It locks onto K.E.Y.S. and then swings its fist at the Pokemon. Its whole body spins around as the fist collides with the Klefki, sending it flying into the wall.

“Anubis, use Power-Up Punch!” Alex commands her Pokemon. The Lucario runs at the statue and punches it hard, dealing a slight bit of damage.

“K.E.Y.S., use Draining Kiss!” Shane commands his Klefki. The Pokemon moves himself off the wall and drains energy from the large stone creature.

“Now, hit it with Steel Wing!” Dmitri commands his Scyther. Gigan charges at the large creature and finally lands a blow on the target and takes it down.  The lights on its face fade off, and the rocks composing its body collapse to the ground.

“So much for catching that thing,” H comments.

“It wasn’t likely anyway,” says Shane, putting away the Pokeball he had just pulled out.

“Yeah,” Morgan agrees. “Let’s get out of here.”

* * *

The next stop on their journey brings them to the Alliance farm world of Attica. They land in the planet’s spaceport and then take a shuttle out to the farmlands. The area the shuttle drops them off at seems to be one of the smaller farms in the area. They see a bunch of different Pokemon in fenced in enclosures such as Torchic, Miltank, and Mareep.

“Oh my God, they’re so fluffy!” Alex shouts when she sees the Mareep. “I want one!”

Luckily for her, as the crew continues on, they come across what appears to be a Mareep that has somehow managed to escape. Alex walks up to it and offers it some food. The domesticated Pokemon eagerly accepts the food and offers no resistance when Alex hugs it. She pulls out a Pokeball and presses it against the Mareep and catches it with ease. In the meantime, Dmitri catches a Torchic that wanders past in a similar manner.

Eventually, the crew comes to a more densely packed farm. Alex doesn’t like the sight of all the Pokemon being crammed together, but knows she can’t really do anything about it. She’s seen documentaries on the horrible conditions of Alliance Pokemon farms and finds some comfort in the fact that this place does not seem as bad.

Here, they meet with this farm’s breeding expert Bill Wi. On a complete whim, they decide to hire him on as a genetics and breeding specialist for the ship’s crew given his apparent scientific background. The man seems quite interested in the proposition and the pay they offer sounds fantastic, so he decides to accept the offer.

The crew stays on the planet for another couple of days to allow him to get his affairs in order and move his gear onto the ship. Once he’s settled in, the crew provides him with some projects to work on, then the _Helix_ departs from the planet.

* * *

Before heading to Parisia for the conference, the _Helix_ makes one more stop on the Genevan planet Estra. Estra is an oceanic world with a hot, dry, arid climate. The areas not covered in water are sandy deserts and large salt flats where ancient oceans once existed. There is not much civilization on the planet other than some salt-mining operations.

The _Helix_ lands in one of the salt flats and the crew heads off to explore. There is not much to see on the planet but they do end up finding a large collection of Pokemon fossils and Morgan manages to catch a Binacle when they move to the coastline.

Once they finish their business on Estra, the crew returns to the ship and Minerva sets a course for Parisia.

* * *

H enters the warp lab, looking for Shane. After several days of traveling, the realization that his rival is the Gardener has finally set in. “So, I’ve been thinking,” he says as soon as he enters the room. “Initially, it seemed laughably funny. You became, coincidentally, the creator of the Universe, but it works out so well.”

If H wasn’t so oblivious to anyone around him, he would notice Shane clenching his fists, as if angered by the cyborg's words.

“I am here to become the enlightener of Humanity towards their next step in evolution to become the perfection that will begin throughout the Universe,” H continues. “You are the start, yet I am that which is to succeed you and-”

“You think I _wanted_ all of this?” Shane asks him angrily as he turns to face him.

H sees a few tears streaming down Shane’s face and is taken aback. “It doesn’t matter if you wanted it or not. You are alive, and this is how life is portrayed. No one ever gets what they want, they make it. And that’s why I will make it, so that I surpass you. It is the perfect goal.”

“Get out,” Shane tells him coldly.

“It’s not that you should want it. Goodbye.”

“Get. _Out_.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was the single longest session of Spacemon at the time, only to be topped by the final session if I recall correctly. We went for nine hours and fifteen minutes straight, so it was essentially a double session. Normally I considered it a good day when I could cover the entire session with one chapter, but that was completely impossible for this session. But I managed to cover the entire first half of the session with this chapter so that’s got to count for something. I tried to minimize the filler and focus on the key parts, so that definitely helped minimize the length.
> 
> So things that happened. First up we have lots of RP to deal with. We had a lot to resolve, such as Shane dealing with finding out he was the Gardener, Morgan and Alex’s much needed conversation about how Morgan tried to kill Pokemon, and, of course, H missing two sessions worth of stuff. While it was great to have H’s player back, this session made me realize how much our characters hated his. H was essentially the character most loved by the players and readers but most hated by the characters.
> 
> Once that was taken care of, we basically got to just go around and do shit before the conference because it was still a ways away and we needed to handle the time jump somehow. We basically got to pick 3 random planets to go. It just so happened that the first one ended up being just right for rolling a nat 0 while searching for Pokemon to end up with a kickass legendary fight which also served to give us more plot foreshadowing. And then we hired Bill. I had to condense that part down a bit, but basically this guy can breed Pokemon and research stuff for the crew.


	55. Seeing Red, Part 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Red Suns gear up for the Galactic Governance Conference after catching wind of a cyber-weapon that might help them finally solve the enigma that is Mr. Silver.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As with the last part of Seeing Red, this piece was written during Volume 3, but it falls in the timeline concurrently with the events of the middle part of Volume 2, so that is where it has been inserted in the series. It's specific position in the timeline is varied since different scenes happen at different time, but it begins shortly before the Helix crew rescued Dr. Armstrong and ends just before the Galactic Governance Conference begins. The events of this part do happen spread out across a good chunk of Volume 2, but I placed this part here in the reading order since it's the timeline position of the last scene, so I didn't want to show it before the time came.

Bastion Super-Maximum Security Penitentiary Station was known as the Federation’s most secure prison. All the biggest, baddest offenders of Federation law found themselves locked up here eventually. Once you were imprisoned in Bastion, there was no getting out. Although, Bastion was definitely not the _worst_ place to wind up. The Federation’s prison standards were far higher than those of the privately owned Alliance prison worlds.

Arlon walked through long corridor, flanked on all sides by Bastion guards. It had taken a lot of work to get here. The Red Suns’ leader had to call in all his favors to even get close. He was glad that Admiral Graves still owed him one, otherwise he wouldn’t be here.

“In here,” one of the guards said, stopping in front of a doorway. “You’ve got ten minutes.”

“Thanks, mate,” Arlon replied as he stepped into the interrogation room.

The immaculate and brightly lit room was barren, save for a table in the center. A disheveled man in an inmate’s jumpsuit sat behind it. Despite the long, unkempt hair and the scraggly beard the face of Arlon’s one-time teammate was easily recognizable. Devlin Garth glared at the Red Suns' leader as he took a seat.

“Long time, no see, mate,” Arlon greeted the former leader of the Red Suns.

“What do _you_ want?” Garth asked. His voice lacked the same swagger as the last time they met.

“Answers.”

“I told you everythin’ already.”

“If that were true, mate, we wouldn’t be having this conversation. You are the last person I’d ever want to speak to. Mr. Silver. Tell me everything you know about him.”

“Ain’t nobody that knows anythin’ ‘bout Mr. Silver,” Garth responded, a slight grin appearing on his ragged face.

“Don’t play games with me, mate,” Arlon replied coldly. “I don’t have time for your bullshit.”

Garth just laughed tauntingly. “I’ve got all the time in the world.”

“Goddamn it, just answer my questions,” Arlon responded angrily, slamming his fist on the table. “The Federation must have beat the truth out of you already.”

“Fine,” Garth agreed. “Whaddya wanna know?”

“Let’s start with something simple then, shall we?” Arlon asked. “That virus you used on the warp gate, did it come from Mr. Silver?”

“What do you think?” Garth asked dryly. “Course it did. Who else would a piece of tech like that come from?”

“And, he just gave it to you?”

“Yup. Somethin’ wrong with that?”

“That’s not how he operates,” Arlon informs Garth. “He had a reason to give you that bloody virus. You can count on that. The question is, what is that reason?”

“Whatcha askin’ me for?” Garth asks. “Obviously, I don’t know. He was probably gonna tell me in the meeting that you so… _kindly_ interrupted.”

“So, he never told you what it was _really_ for?”

“That’s what I said.” Garth leaned his arms on the table. “We done here?”

“Not yet,” Arlon told him. “You clearly don’t have any of the information I need, but I’m dying to know, how’d you do it? What you pulled on Parisia was way beyond what you should have been capable of.”

“Let’s just say Mr. Silver lent a hand,” Garth said with a slight chuckle. “He contacted Lars fer a job, but the old fool was too stubborn to take it. Next thing I know, I’m perfectly set up to take him out and take over. I would’ve been stupid _not_ seize that opportunity.”

“It was that easy for you?” Arlon asked. He could feel the rage boiling inside. “You didn’t even hesitate for a bloody moment. You make me _sick_.”

“Heh. You always were just as much a fool as he was.”

“You might want to rethink that, mate,” Arlon retorted. “I’m not the one locked up in this bloody joint.” Garth remained silent.

“So, tell me, what was this job?” Arlon finally asked.

“What’s it to you?”

“Just answer the fucking question.”

“Some Outer Rim station. He wanted us to steal some data.”

“That was Gigan Station, I presume.”

“I believe that was the name.”

“So, what sort of data was it?”

“Somethin’ to do with warp gates and space exploration. I didn’t ask too many questions.”

“You never did,” Arlon told him. The Red Suns’ leader shook his head as he spoke. “Anything else you can tell me about Mr. Silver?”

“What do I look like, some kinda fuckin’ expert? Of course not.”

“Then we’re done here.” Arlon stood up and headed for the door. “Enjoy your time here.”

“Why don’tcha come back an’ visit sometime!?” Garth shouted tauntingly after him as the door shut behind him.

* * *

“This is all very disturbing,” Arlon said to himself as he looked over the data the _Helix_ had sent him on Armstrong. His former crewmates had successfully _obtained_ the Alliance scientist on Parisia, and learned a great deal. The former bounty hunter sighed and took a glance around the now-operational base on Harmonia.

“What’s the matter, boss?” the Red Suns’ leader heard Luke ask. He turned his head the other direction to see his lieutenant walking past with a large crate.

“I’m just looking over the info on Armstrong that the _Helix_ sent us,” Arlon explained. “The man was a pretty substantial lead after all, but…”

“But what?”

“There’s still a lot of unanswered questions.”

“Such as?”

“Such as ‘why the hell does Mr. Silver need an army of cybernetically enhanced clones?’”

“Come again?”

“Mr. Silver funded Armstrong on this crazy project. The doctor was trying to create _super_ advanced cybernetic augmentations. Grew a bunch of clones… One of them is a member of the _Helix_ crew. Goes by the name H. He’s… a bit _odd_ , to say the least.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Well, he has a messiah complex. Thinks he’s supposed to be the savior of mankind.”

“Seriously?”

“It’s true, mate. He’s fucking _mental_ , but good in a fight. Anyway, he was the only one left when Mr. Silver shut Armstrong’s project down. All the other clones were given to Mr. Silver. Now, if only we could figure out what that elusive bastard wanted them for. I can guarantee that they’re part of his master plan.”

“Sounds like we’d better do some more digging.”

“Right, but enough about that. What’s in the box?”

“You’ll love this one,” Luke told his boss, cracking a huge grin. He opened the box and fished out a suit of combat armor. “I got these from an old black market dealer pal of mine,” the Alliance merc explained. “Five sets of EVA combat armor. I figured they might come in handy some day.”

“Good find, mate” Arlon told him. “Load ‘em up on the _Corsair_.”

“You got it, boss.”

Arlon turned back to the datapad in his hand, but before he had the chance to go over the info on Armstrong again, he was once again interrupted.

“Hey, boss, you have a minute?” Matthias asked as he approached.

“I suppose,” Arlon answered the hacker. “What is it?”

“I found something you’re gonna want to see.”

* * *

“This thing could solve all our problems,” Arlon said as he looked at the data on the holo-screen in Matthias’s lab. “How did you find out about this?”

“I have my ways,” Matthias explained. “When I caught wind of some rumors about a powerful cyber-weapon, I just _had_ to keep digging. You won’t believe what I found.”

“Lay it on me.”

“As I said, this thing can supposedly can break into any computer system _without fail_. But the Genevans developing it, whoever they are, plan to use it at the Galactic Governance Conference next month.”

“Hmm… Guess we’re gonna have to attend that conference.”

“You must really want this weapon,” Matthias observed.

“This is the break we’ve been waiting for, mate,” Arlon explained.

“You want to use it against Mr. Silver, don’t you?” the hacker asked.

“How did you-?”

“Look who you’re talking to,” Matthias said with a laugh. “I know everything that happens in this organization. Don’t worry, my friend, the secret is safe with me,” he added, seeing the look on Arlon’s face.

“I don’t like my men snooping around.”

“I’m a hacker, it’s what I do.”

“Fair enough, but you should have said something sooner. I like to know who I can trust.”

“Well, I’m behind you all the way, boss.”

“Good to hear,” Arlon told him. “Now, since you’re in the loop, let’s get down to business. Find out anything you can: who’s developing this weapon, what they’re agenda is, any connections to Mr. Silver. I want to know everything there is to know.”

“You got it.”

“Excellent. I’ll take care of getting into the conference.”

* * *

“We’ve come a long way these past few months,” Arlon addressed the Red Suns gathered in the _Corsair_ ’s war room. “We’ve worked hard to get where we are, and now our goal is in sight.”

The mercenary organization’s leader had spent the past few days preparing for the Galactic Governance Conference, and for what came next. That meant bringing more people in the loop, more people that Arlon knew he could trust. He looked around the room at his lieutenants and the men and women under their command that had proven themselves.

Arlon pressed a button on the holotable, and all the data the Red Suns had collected on Mr. Silver sprang up. “As you all know by now, although some of you have only been informed recently, we’ve been working toward uncovering the plots of the man known as Mr. Silver. We can connect him to the attack on Solace Prime and the rise of the Romanov Supremacy, the death of our founder, Lars Ricketts, the virus Devlin Garth used to hack the warp gate in Sector 25, and so much more. We know that he’s collected a wide range of powerful weapons, artifacts, and technologies, including a number of powerful, cybernetically enhanced clones. Soon the time will come when we learn how it all fits together.” The Red Suns’ leader turned his gaze toward Matthias and nodded.

“I have discovered a means for us to break into Mr. Silver’s network,” the Athínian hacker declared as he stepped up to the holotable and threw up all the intel on the cyber-weapon. “A powerful device capable of breaking through any form of encryption. The whole thing is very hush hush, but, if this intel is to be believed, this device is a miracle of technology. If we can get our hands on it, all the data on Mr. Silver’s network is as good as ours.”

“So, where did this device come from?” Carmen asked. “Where is it now?”

“I cannot say,” Matthias responded. “All I know is that it is being developed by a team of Genevan scientists.”

“So, how are we supposed to use this thing against Mr. Silver if we don’t even know where it is?” Matt asked.

“The answer is quite simple, my friend,” Matthias explained. “While we do not know where this cyber-weapon _is_ … we know where it _will be_.”

“Where might that be?” Carmen asked.

“The Galactic Governance Conference,” Arlon answered. “Our intel shows that one of the Genevan councilors plans to use the weapon at the conference. We don’t know who, or _why_. The plan is to attend the conference, and acquire the weapon _before_ it’s used.”

“And how, exactly, do you plan on doing that?” Petra asked.

“I’ve already found us a way in,” Arlon explained. “Councilor Penwood of Albion owned me a favor, so I explained the situation and asked him to get some of us on board the _Halcyon_. We help him prevent the attack, and we get the weapon for ourselves. I’ve got three invitations. Rena, Kiril, you’ll be coming with me.”

“Just three of us?” Rena asked. “Don’t you think we should ‘ave a bit more backup for zis?”

“Unfortunately, Penwood could only get me three invitations, but we won’t be alone; I asked my old friends on the _Helix_ to lend a hand and they assured me they would be in attendance. They’re a resourceful bunch, so I have no doubt they’ll be there.”

“As for the rest of you,” Arlon continued after a brief pause. “Petra and Luke, you’ll be in charge while we’re at the conference, and I’m counting on the rest of you to help keep things running smoothly.”

“You can count on us, boss,” Carmen assured him, speaking for her fellow Red Suns.

“I knew I could. Now, once we have the device, we’ll strike against Mr. Silver as soon as possible. But, we will need to be prepared for whatever that bastard has planned. Once we attack, it’s possible that he will leverage all the resources he has against us.”

“Whatcha thinkin’ boss?” Luke asked.

“We’re going to build a fleet. Over the next month, we’re going to expand the Red Suns and build the biggest bloody mercenary fleet in the Galaxy.”

“That is very ambitious plan,” Kiril responded.

“Indeed, mate.” Arlon crossed his arms resolutely. “But, we’ve got the right team to pull it off. I need all of you to reach out to all your contacts. We need men, ships, weapons, supplies, you name it. We’ll also need to run a recruitment campaign. I’m sending you lot all over the Galaxy  to recruit anyone willing and capable. Pilots, soldiers, engineers, whoever. We’ll split up and cover as much ground as possible. I’ll send a list of key planets to each of your Pokedexes. You’re all dismissed.”

* * *

“I am Nikolai Alkaev.”

“And what, exactly, can you do?” Rena asked the large, bearded Romanov man. She had been sitting in this club on Banton for hours recruiting mercenaries and was well past trying to make small talk with the potential recruits.

“I am mercenary. I have seen much combat.”

“Do you ‘ave any kind of specialty?” the Red Suns’ lieutenant asked.

“I am pilot. I have flown many ships. Romanov, Alliance, Genevan.”

“Great. You’re ‘ired. Our base is located ‘ere.” She transmitted the location of the Red Suns’ warehouse on Banton to the mercenary’s Pokedex, then waved him to move on. “ ** _Next!_** ”

After about another hour, Rena finally made it through to the end of the line of recruits. The Parisian sighed with relief, then finished her drink. The past few weeks had been hectic for the Red Suns, but extremely productive. In less than a month, the mercenary organization had nearly quadrupled the size of their ranks and tripled the size of their fleet. Rena was glad it was finally coming to an end, though; Banton had been the last stop for her.

Rena caught an air-taxi back to base and stepped inside. The warehouse was bustling with activity as the new recruits flowed in. Carmen waved her over as she walked past. The Alliance mercenary had recently returned to the base from her recruiting trip across the Outer Rim with a handful of ships, all fully crewed.

“The boss called while you were out,” Carmen informed Rena once she was within earshot.

“Oh?”

“He wants you back on Harmonia for final preparations,” the Alliance mercenary filled her in. “I took the liberty of preparing the _Fleur_ for you.”

“Thank you, Carmen. Take good care of ze base while I am gone.”

“Yes, Ma’am!”

Rena stepped aboard the _Fleur_ , set her Metagross up in the ship’s warp drive, then settled herself into the pilot’s seat. She fired up the engines and took the small Genevan bucket skywards.

* * *

The brilliant light of Europa reflected off the hulls of the various ships docked at the Albion spaceport as Arlon, Kiril, and Rena stepped off the _Corsair_. The area was bustling with diplomats and politicians lining up to board the shuttles to the _GCS Halcyon_.

“Hello, mate,” Arlon greeted Councilor Penwood, who was waiting for them at the end of the boarding ramp.

“I trust you had a pleasant trip?” the councilor asked.

“Indeed. Shall we?”

“Yes, of course. Come along.”

The Red Suns and the councilor made their way across the spaceport, and just managed to squeeze into the shuttle before it left. Arlon cracked his knuckles as he watched the luxury liner hosting the Galactic Governance Conference slowly draw nearer out the viewport. The time had finally come.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here we have all the leftover stuff that was originally planned to be in Part 4. I think pushing it to a new part was a great idea, as it allowed me to better develop these scenes and produce a tighter narrative.
> 
> The scene with Arlon visiting Garth in prison was one I had wanted to do when I first starting thinking about writing this series and I just knew it was the perfect way to begin this part. The rest was all really just set up for the major plot point of Volume 2, the Galactic Governance Conference. Although there were a few other things in there. I knew I wanted to include Arlon going over the information on Armstrong that the Helix sent him since Armstrong has been an important plot point in this series. The other big thing was setting up Arlon’s plan of expanding the Red Suns even further. I wrote this during Volume 3, so looking back I was thinking it made sense for Arlon to start building a fleet in preparation for facing Mr. Silver. Of course managing a fleet means bringing more people into the loop, so I decided to show all the characters I came up with other than Arlon and his Lieutenants sort of becoming higher ranking members of the organization. I also thought it would be fun to throw in a recruiting scene and give that one Romanov mercenary were interviewed just before hiring Minerva for the Helix.
> 
> Finally, let’s talk timeline placement. A lot happened in this part over a long range of time, so I’ll break it down for you. The prison scene takes place between Chapter 9 and Chapter 10 of Volume 2, just after the events of the previous part of Seeing Red, the scenes where Arlon speaks with Luke and Matthias take place concurrently to Volume 2, Chapter 12, the meeting where Arlon lays out the plan takes place between Volume 2, Chapter 15 and the third part of Tempore Ex Machina (which is just before Volume 2, Chapter 16), the recruiting scene takes place sometime during Volume 2, Chapter 20, and, finally, the last scene takes place concurrently with the very start of Volume 2, Chapter 21, which is next up in the series.


	56. Volume 2, Chapter 21: The Geneva Conspiracy, Part I

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Helix crew meets up with Arlon Jett aboard the GCS Halcyon for the Galactic Governance Conference. Together, they put a plan in motion to begin their search for the cyber-weapon.

With only a week left until the start of the Galactic Governance Conference, the _Helix_ arrives back at Parasia so that the crew can make their final preparations and meet up with Councilor Fontaine. Since the ship will be docked for such an extended period of time, the crew decides it will be a good idea to have some new modifications and facilities installed. They spend the next few days making plans, preparing Shane and his Pokemon for their digital infiltration mission, providing Armstrong and Bill with projects to work on while they are gone (such as researching the fossils the crew found on Estra and breeding the first of many baby Eevees to come), and purchasing formal wear for the conference. As the conference drawers nearer, the crew begins to feel a sense of foreboding.

Alex in particular is worried that something bad will happen to the _Helix_ while they are gone. She has a bad feeling that Captain Heilovic of the Romanov Supremacy or someone equally bad might come after the ship while they are gone. Fearing for the safety of her new home, Alex expresses her concerns to her crewmates.

“I admit, it does seem strange that we haven’t seen a trace of Heilovic in such a long time, given the interest he showed in us,” Morgan tells her. “But what can we do?”

“What about that Arlon guy?” Alex suggests. “Can’t you, like, call him or something and ask him to look after the ship?”

“Well, he will be at the conference with us,” Morgan tells her. “But that is a good idea, I’ll call him and see if he can send some men to protect the ship.”

Morgan goes to the bridge and calls up Arlon. Luckily he seems to be in at the moment and quickly answers the call. “Hello, Morgan. I figured I would be hearing from you soon. I trust your preparations for the conference are well underway?”

“Yes,” Morgan tells him. “But that’s not why I called.”

“Oh? How can I help you then?”

“Well, we’re a bit nervous about leaving the ship unattended for so long,” Morgan begins to explain.

“Let me guess, you want me to send some men to look after it, don’t you?”

“That is exactly what we want. Is that possible?”

“I believe that can be arranged. I’ll just need to know where you’re docked.”

“We’re on Parisia, I can send you the docking information.”

“Brilliant. I’m actually on Albion right now, preparing for the conference. Kiril, Rena, and myself will be attending the conference and, once things are squared away here, I’ll send the _Corsair_ your way. The _Helix_ will be in the care of one of my other lieutenants, Luke Anderson, and a squad of men. Your ship will be in good hands.”

“Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it.”

“I guess we’ll see you at the conference then.”

“Indeed. Cheers, luv.”

* * *

When the day of the conference finally rolls around, the crew departs from the _Helix_ and meets up with Councilor Fontaine and they take a shuttle to the _GCS Halcyon_ , the luxury liner hosting the Galactic Governance Conference. As the shuttle approaches the ship, they can see many other shuttles flying in from the various planets in the system as well as many ships dropping out of warp space, with more shuttles flying out from them.

Once the shuttle lands in the _Halcyon_ ’s hanger, the passengers are led to the security check to make sure that they are not bringing any sort of weapons aboard. H, of course, immediately causes the guard’s sensors to light up in a chorus of flashes and beeps.

“Sir, sir, I’m going to have to ask you to declare,” one of the guards tells him.

“Declare?” H asks him, confused by the man’s statement.

“We’re here to deliver a presentation on advanced cybernetic augmentation,” Morgan explains to the guard. “Subject H is equipped with a number of augmentations which are essential to our presentation.”

“Okay,” the guard replies, sounding a bit confused. “We’ll, uh, need you declare all presentation materials for our records.”

The crew provides him with this information, save for a few things they wish to keep secret, and he seems to accept the answer. Once he double-checks with Councilor Fontaine, he finally lets them through.

They are then escorted up to the main hotel area of the ship. The room is adorned with red carpets and fancy gold chandeliers. Diplomats, politicians, and businesspeople move about, mingling and making conversation. “Wow,” Alex gasps as she takes in the sights.

They check in at the desk and are shown to their room so that they can drop off their luggage and get settled in. Once they get all set up in the room, they change into their new fancy evening wear and head to the main ballroom for the opening ceremony of the conference. Morgan, Alex, Dmitri, and H arrive just in time to sign up for the opening exhibition Pokemon battles. Morgan and Dmitri choose to sit out but both Alex and H decide to participate

The room goes silent a few minutes later as Charles Atkinson, the Chief Councilor of the Geneva Confederacy steps up onto the stage to give his speech. “I’d like to thank you all for coming. These are tumultuous times we live in. Everyone back home, in all of our homes, is looking to us for guidance and leadership. It’s going to be a busy week aboard this ship. Now, without further ado, let us watch these spectacular performers battle!” The crowd breaks into applause as the Chief Councilor backs away and the first battlers step up to the stage to begin the exhibition.

* * *

The few battles go by relatively quickly and soon it is time for Alex’s battle. She moves up to the stage and finds herself paired up with a man in a fancy suit with a well-groomed mustache.

“Let’s do this, Loki!” Alex shouts out as she releases her Espurr.

“You’re up, Mamoswine,” the man says as he releases his own Pokemon. The large creature shakes the stage a bit as it steps forward, looming over Alex’s tiny Espurr.

“Loki, run up and hit it with Fake-Out!” Alex commands her Pokemon. He runs forward and strikes the larger Pokemon, surprising it and allowing for another attack. “Now, back off and use Psychic!” Loki quickly hops back from the Mamoswine and fires a blast of psychic energy at it.

“Mamoswine, use Mud Bomb,” the other trainer commands his Pokemon. The large beast opens its mouth and spits a giant ball of mud at Loki, delivering a pretty heavy hit to the little Espurr.

“Now, use Light Screen!” Alex instructs Loki. The Espurr throws up a protective screen of energy and awaits the Mamoswine’s next move.

“Use Double Team!” the Mamoswine’s trainer commands. The large creature starts moving quickly, upping its evasiveness.

“Hit it with Psychic!” Alex shouts. Loki fires another blast at the Mamoswine, but the large Pokemon keeps on going.

“Now, use Icy Wind,” the other trainer instructs his Pokemon. The Mamoswine launches a blast of icy-cold air at Loki, but his energy barrier dampens the power. “Now follow up with Mud-Slap!” The Mamoswine spits more mud at Loki, dealing a bit more damage and making it harder for the Espurr to see.

“Loki, use Psybeam!” Alex commands her Espurr. The little Pokemon begins to glow as he shoots a beam of psychic energy at the Mamoswine and finally takes it down. The glow intensifies and the Pokemon begins to change shape. The crowd’s applause and cheers intensify as the glow subsides and the newly evolved Meowstic is revealed!

“Yay!” Alex squeals with excitement at her newly evolved Pokemon. “Great job, Loki!”

“You’re up next, Tauros,” the other trainer says as he recalls his fainted Mamoswine and sends out his next Pokemon.

“Loki, use Psychic!” Alex instructs her Pokemon. The Meowstic fires off another blast of psychic energy and hits the Tauros, but it doesn’t seem particularly bothered by the hit.

“Use Horn Attack,” the man commands his Pokemon. It charges up to Loki and hits the Meowstic hard, knocking him out of the fight.

“Great job, Loki,” Alex says as she recalls her fainted Pokemon. “Your turn, Anubis!” She pulls out another ball and releases her Lucario onto the stage. “Use Focus Blast!” Anubis nods and then builds up a massive ball of aura energy and launches it at the Tauros. The Tauros is sent flying back and is knocked out instantly!

* * *

In his battle, H is paired up with a tall, dark-haired man wearing a fancy black and red suit. “Hello there,” the man says, looking at H with a curious eye.

“Prepare to meet with perfection!” H proclaims as he sends out his freshly evolved Floatzel.

“This should be interesting,” the man says with a chuckle as he releases a Duskull.

“#9, use Bulk Up!” H commands his Floatzel. The Pokemon hangs back and starts building up her strength.

“Grimm, use Curse,” the other trainer calmly commands his Pokemon. A ghostly wave emanates out from the Duskull and starts floating around H’s Floatzel.

“Bulk Up again!” H commands his Floatzel. Despite the curse inflicted upon her, the Pokemon keeps building up strength.

“Now, use Will-O-Wisp,” the other trainer instructs his Duskull. The ghostly Pokemon sends out a small ball of flame at the Floatzel, but it dodges out of the way.

“Bulk Up once more, #9!”

“Confuse Ray.” A ray of energy hits H’s Floatzel, sending it into a state of confusion.

“Your job is done #9!” H shouts. “Use Baton Pass! You’re up #1!” H releases his Rhyhorn and his Floatzel steps back.

“Will-O-Wisp,” the other trainer commands. The Duskull sends out another ghostly flame, and, this time, lands a hit, inflicting a burn upon #1.

“#1, use Rock Blast!” H commands. The Rhyhorn launches five large rocks at the opposing Duskull. Each one finds its mark and the Duskull is taken down immediately as the crowd starts cheering.

“Impressive,” the other trainer says as he recalls his Pokemon. “You’re up next Styx.” The man releases a Croconaw onto the stage. “Use Aqua Tail.” The Croconaw charges forward at the Rhyhorn and swings its tail in for the hit, but the Pokemon manages to dodge out of the way.

“Use Stomp, #1!” H commands. The Rhyhorn charges at the Croconaw, but it returns the favor and dodges out of the way.

“Now, Ice Fang.” The Croconaw’s teeth freeze over as it lunges for #1, but the Rhyhorn once again manages to dodge out of the way.

“Rock Blast!” #1 fires another salvo of rocks and lands three hits.

“Aqua Tail again.” despite being weakened, the Croconaw shows no signs of slowing down. It lunges at #1 again and this time lands a hit with its tail, dealing some damage.

“Now, #1, use Bulldoze!” the Rhyhorn charges full speed at the Croconaw and hits it dead on. The Pokemon is sent flying backwards and then falls to the ground, beaten.

* * *

After the exhibition battles conclude, the evening wraps up with a fancy ball where the conference goers dance, mingle, and discuss business and politics. As they move about the ballroom, Morgan notices Arlon leaning against the bar, surveying the room. Their eyes lock and he motions the group over to the bar.

“Long time no see,” Arlon says as his former crewmates approach the bar. “How’ve things been going on the _Helix_?”

“It’s… been fine,” Morgan tells him.

“ _Really?_ ” Arlon asks, not buying Morgan’s bluff.

“Look, I don’t really want to talk about it. But we’re here now and focused on the job.”

“Right, let’s get down to business then. This is what I was able to figure out: the weapon is in the possession of one of the Genevan councilors in attendance. Unfortunately, I don’t know which one. We’ll need to snoop around and figure out who has the weapon.”

“Do you know what we’re looking for?” Morgan asks him.

“It’s some sort of device, probably small and portable,” Arlon explains. “I don’t know exactly how it works, but it’s powerful enough to hack into whatever it’s connected to.”

“So, I guess the next step is to figure out which councilors are in attendance,” Morgan suggests.

“Already done,” Arlon tells her as he pulls out his Pokedex. “I’ve narrowed down the list to a few who could potentially have the device. I just sent it to your Pokedex. I narrowed it down to eight names. Actually, make that seven, since I assume Councilor Fontaine is clean since she was your ticket in.”

“Right,” Morgan agrees. “It’s likely not her.”

“That’s what I thought. So that leaves us with Finnegan and Guinness of New Britain, Heinkel of New Germany, Moretti of New Italy,  Narváez of New Spain, Nilsson of New Sweden, and Zabat of New Greece. Narrowing the list down shouldn’t be _too_ hard. I’ve got Rena and Kiril working an angle now but if you lot want to narrow it down on your own, that will be helpful.”

“I think we can do that,” Morgan tells him. “But our main plan is to get Shane into the ship’s computer systems to help us out from the inside. While we talk to the councilors in the ballroom, Alex here will sneak out and find a place where she can get Shane in.”

“My replacement, I take it? You lot never were that great at sneaking around were you?” Arlon laughs. “Good luck, kid.”

“Hey! I’m not a kid!” Alex responds.

“Relax, luv. I was around your age when I entered this line of work. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to meet with some _lovely_ politicians.” Arlon finishes his drink and then leaves the bar.

* * *

While the others talk with various councilors and diplomats at the ball, Alex tries to slip away so she can get Shane into the computers. Morgan had entrusted her with the drive Shane was currently residing in, and she intended to keep it close and well protected. She checks several corridors leading away from the public areas but all of them are watched by guards.

After several more minutes, she spots what looks like an open path and makes her move. Unfortunately she’s grabbed by a guard who appears from around a corner. “Hey, where do you think you’re going?” the guard asks.

“Uh… I was trying to find the bathroom,” Alex lies.

“Bathroom’s that way, miss,” the guard informs her as he points back toward the public area.

“Right,” Alex says with a nervous laugh. “Thanks.”

Alex goes into the bathroom to look convincing and looks around. She notices a small vent in the ceiling she could probably fit into, but then remembers what she’s wearing. “Damn it, if only I wasn’t wearing this stupid dress,” she mumbles to herself.

Once an appropriate amount of time passes, she exits the bathroom and resumes her search for a way into the more secure areas. Eventually she lucks out and manages to slip past some guards down a secure hallway. Moving down the hall, Alex sees many rooms with computers, but also security personnel.

With the rooms out of the question, Alex begins to look around for something else she can use. She notices important cables running along the walls and decides to follow them. Eventually, they lead her to some sort of utility box which seems like it might be a good place to get Shane inside.

Alex walks up to the box and manages to hack open the box and see what’s inside. She sees various switches and knobs, but luckily there are also a few ports that are compatible with the drive Shane is inside. Before she can get him into the system, however, she hears footsteps approaching. Alex quickly but silently shuts the box and then ducks into a nearby broom closet to hide.

She hears the footsteps stop in front of the box and the sound of it slowly creaking back open. Shit, the thought races through her mind. She quickly releases her Lampent and begins whispering instructions to her. “Lumiera, I need you to sneak up on that guy and lead him away. Once you lead him far enough away, go invisible and then meet me back at the ballroom.”

The Lampent then phases through the wall and a few moments later Alex hears shouting: “Hey! Hey, get back here!” She hears the sound of the footsteps running away and then makes her move. She rushes back to the box and inserts the drive into one of the ports.

“I’m in,” Shane’s voice sounds in the comm chip in Alex’s ear. 

“Okay. I’m gonna take the drive out now. I need to get out of here,” Alex replies. She quickly pulls the drive out and locks the box back up, then makes her way back to the ballroom.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And thus begins the main event of this session! We had been building up to the conference for so long, so it was exciting for it to finally begin! This chapter was interesting. I got a bit more time to revisit the character of Arlon and that came with the opportunity to RP with myself, if only for a couple lines.
> 
> The exhibition battles were pretty fun. A nice, short, and sweet battle. Having my Espurr evolve in that battle made it all the better. H’s battle was a bit more interesting. the GM wasn't satisfied with the team the random Pokemon generator was giving him, so he ended up pulling from his team in the game that I was GMing at the time. In the write-up I ended on flavoring the character a bit after his character in that game, but dialed it way back because his character is kinda ridiculous. The fight was a bigger challenge so H was rewarded with more exp and money than Alex, but he sorely needed it from missing so many sessions. His strategy was pretty ridiculous in this fight. It was a bit of a challenge to figure out how to explain a Baton Passer strategy, but I think it turned out alright.


	57. Volume 2, Chapter 22: The Geneva Conspiracy, Part II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Helix crew runs into some issues during the Galactic Governance Conference.

Shane finds himself in a small room, a digital representation of the low-level utility box that Alex plugged him into. He is quickly able to get access to the cameras, power, communications, and other systems within the block, but nothing more. He starts doing a bit of snooping around, but, before he can find anything concrete, he hears the worried voice of Alex over the comms: “Guys, Lumiera still hasn’t come back yet. I had her lead the guards away but it’s been over fifteen minutes and she still hasn’t come back.”

“I’ll see if I can find anything on the cameras,” Shane tells her. He quickly scrolls the the security camera footage and locates Alex’s Lampent on the feed. Playing the clip, he sees the Pokemon being struck by a Thunder Wave and then being lead out of the block and out of Shane’s current range. “Your Lampent got captured and is being taken somewhere else. I’m gonna see if I can figure out where.”

“We need to rescue her!” the girl cries.

“We need to know where they took your Pokemon first,” Shane informs her. He heads over to the communications systems in the box and tries to figure out a way to get himself into a different part of the Ship’s systems.

Shane identifies a data packet headed for the ship’s main security system and decides to hitch a ride. He’s pulled along the data stream, but, right before he can pass into the security system, the packet passes through a camera icon and gets diverted. _Crap_ , Shane thinks as he is dragged off.

Shane is dumped out into a locked room within the main security system. He looks around the room to see a few viruses and various error messages floating around as well as a lone Porygon aimlessly wanders the room. He also notices three doors, one leading straight out, one leading up, and one down.

“Hello?” Shane asks over the Comms. “Can anybody hear me?” Silence. “Shit.” It seems as if he has been dumped into some sort of virus quarantine and his communication with his crewmates has been cut off.

Shane approaches the door leading off to the side and releases his Inkay, which he and H and modified to be able to survive in this digital environment. Together, they starting playing around with the door and are able to get it open. Looking out, Shane can see what appears to be the security mainframe but a firewall still blocks his escape.

As soon as the door opens, one of the viruses bolts straight for it and sets off the firewall. The door slams down on it, slicing a chunk off the virus as it’s vaporized by the firewall. A blob of now useless code lands at Shane’s feet. He shudders for a moment and then moves off to investigate the door in the ceiling.

Shane moves up to the ceiling door and touches it with his hand. The door reacts to his touch and slides open, revealing a room that looks quite similar to the one within the drive he had been brought aboard the ship in. A beam of light shines down into the room and starts scanning. It passes over the viruses, but, once it hits the Porygon, it starts pulling it up into the room above.

“Well,” Shane hears a voice echo in from the outside world. “Found another Porygon in the system.” The Pokemon is fully pulled into the room and the door slides shut. Shane reasons that the room is some sort of way to extract digital Pokemon from the system because incinerating them like viruses would be inhumane. He recalls his Inkay as he eyes the door on the floor suspiciously, thinking that it might be intended for viruses.

Shane looks around the room for something he can use to get out and his eyes fall on the two remaining viruses in the room. He walks up to them and briefly parses through their code. One seems to be a run-of-the-mill worm while the other appears to be some form of spyware. The latter catches his attention, so Shane decides to examine it further. It appears to be designed for monitoring and reporting and seems to be looking to find the ship’s navigation and communication systems. He gets the suspicion that its purpose is to send the ship’s location to someone.

Looking at the viruses, a plan begins to hatch inside Shane’s mind. First, he hacks into the spyware and modifies it that it is no longer tracking the ship’s navigational data. He then pries the side door open again and instructs the worm to go through. The stealthy virus is able to pass through the firewall undetected. Shane then teleports himself across the firewall, swaps his position with the spyware, and then teleports across again. He proceeds away from the quarantine with the two viruses in tow, believing that they may be useful to the mission.

* * *

Alex paces impatiently back and forth in the crew’s room waiting for news about her Lampent from Shane. The others sit around the room with expressions of varying degrees of worry on their faces. It had been well over an hour since they had lost contact with Shane.

“We should have heard from him by now,” Alex says to her crewmates but the room remains silent. “What if something bad happened?”

“I’m sure he’s fine,” Morgan says reassuringly, although she is also concerned for Shane’s safety.

“Hey, guys, can you hear me?” Shane’s voice finally sounds over the comms.

“What the hell happened?” Morgan asks

“I _may_ have made a few friends in the virus quarantine,” Shane explains. “But I’m out now and I’m in the security mainframe.”

“Did you find Lumiera yet!?” Alex asks him, sounding even more worried than before.

“I just got into the mainframe,” Shane tells her. “Give me a minute and I should be able to find it.” Several more minutes pass, but Shane soon provides Alex with his findings: “Alright, I’ve located your Lampent. It’s being held in the detention block, but it’s gonna be difficult to retrieve now. We should come back for it later.”

“No! We need to get her out right now!” Alex cries out.

“Okay, okay. Jeeze. But, like I said, the room is going to be hard to get to. I sent you guys the location.”

“Alright, let’s go!” Alex shouts as she runs for the door.

“Wait, you’re just going to get captured yourself,” Morgan warns her.

“But I need to save her!” Alex cries, tears starting to form under her eyes. “It’s my fault she’s stuck in there!”

“Just calm down. We can’t just rush in there. We need to come up with a plan.”

“We could just try asking for it,” Dmitri suggests.

“That’s it!” Alex exclaims. She quickly runs out of the room before anyone can stop her.

“Wait, where are you going?!” Morgan shouts after her, but it’s too late.

Alex runs down the hall to the security desk, working herself up as she approaches. She is already quite distressed over Lumiera’s capture so putting on a convincing show is quite easy. “My Lampent ran off,” she cries to the guard. “I don’t know what happened… I think she may have gotten in trouble, she hasn’t come back yet!” The guard looks at her with an annoyed face, like he really doesn’t want to have to deal with her. “Please, you have to find her!” Alex tells the guard as tears start rolling down her cheeks.

“I’ll put in a note to security, but no promises.”

Back in the computer system, Shane spots the email from the guard at the desk. He pulls it down and then marks it with priority before sending it on its way. A few minutes later, a reply comes back, and he lets it go on its way.

“Yeah, they have one in the detention block,” the guard at the desk informs Alex.

“Please, I need her back!”

“Fine,” the guard sighs. “I’ll see what I can do.”

* * *

A few hours later, a couple of guards come by the room with Lumiera. As soon as she sees the Lampent, Alex runs up and hugs her. “Lumiera! I was so worried about you! I’m so glad you’re safe.”

“We’re gonna need you to keep this Lampent in its ball for the rest of the conference,” one of the guards tells her. “Ghost Pokemon can be a real problem for security.”

“Okay,” Alex replies, recalling Lumiera into her ball. “I’m so sorry. Thank you for bringing her back!”

“Just don’t let it happen again.” The guards turn and walk out of the room.

“Judging from the communications I intercepted, they’re gonna be watching you from now on,” Shane tells Alex over the comms. “Just try not to do anything illegal for the rest of the conference.”

“I’m sorry,” Alex apologizes to her crewmates.

“No, Alex, It’s okay. You did a good job.”

* * *

Over the course of the night, Shane looks through the ship’s cargo and security camera logs. Nothing really suspicious pops up on the list of cargo, so Shane focuses on the security cameras, specifically on any footage of the Genevan councilors on their list.

While he is not on the list, Councilor Winston Pennwood of the New Britain capitol world, Albion, catches Shane’s interest. In addition to various small, unidentified boxes, he is accompanied by none other than Arlon Jett and his two most trusted Red Suns lieutenants, Rena Bourdeaux and Kiril Zhukov. _That must be how he got on board_ , Shane reasons. The boxes do appear a bit suspicious to him, so he makes a note to ask about them. 

Most of the councilors on the list don’t really stand out as suspicious save for the councilors from New Sweden and New Germany. Councilor Anders Nilsson of New Sweden’s cargo is labeled with “Financial Equipment,” which strikes Shane as odd. Councilor Robert Heinkel of New Germany doesn’t have any cargo that stands out as immediately suspicious, but something about the man still bothers Shane, so he doesn’t rule him out.

When the others wake up, Shane reports his findings. With this new information, the crew decides to meet with Arlon to plan their next course of action. Once they are ready, they head over to Arlon’s room.

“So, what have you got for me?” Arlon asks them.

“We’ve managed to narrow down the list of suspects, but we need you to clarify a few things,” Morgan tells him.

“Alright, what do you want to know?”

“Councilor Pennwood. Shane noticed you with him on the security footage, but there were some suspicious boxes with him.”

“Pennwood’s clean. Let’s just say he owed me a favor and that’s how I got on board this ship.”

“That’s all I needed to know,” Morgan replies. “That just narrows our list down to Heinkel and Nilsson.”

“Not bad,” Arlon compliments the _Helix_ crew. “That’ll make our jobs a lot easier.”

“If you could take a look at what they’ve got in the cargo hold, that would be a huge help,” Morgan tells him.

“Sure, I can do that.”

“Take Alex’s earpiece then, so we can stay in contact. She can’t really use hers anymore.”

“Might I ask why?”

“My Lampent was captured when I was sneaking Shane into the system,” Alex explains. “I was able to get them to let her out but… now they’re watching me.”

“Still, not bad kid,” Arlon compliments her. “Now about that earpiece.”

“Right,” says Alex. She pulls out her modified storage Pokeball, removes the earpiece from it and hands it to Arlon.

“Wait a second, did you just take that out of a bloody Pokeball?” Arlon asks.

“Mhm,” Alex replies.

“I didn’t even know that was possible. It would be damn useful for smuggling.”

“I made it myself,” Alex brags.

“Really? Well, that’s impressive,” Arlon tells her. He then turns toward the others. “Where’d you find this girl?”

“She snuck onto our ship and tried to blow us all up,” H tells him. Arlon simply raises an eyebrow at him.

“She didn’t try to blow us all up,” Morgan corrects him. “She wanted to come with us and we told her to stay on the planet.”

“We don’t know that. She broke into the secure cryolab and was messing around with the Genesect and-”

“Hey, I said I was sorry, okay!” Alex shouts at him. “You tried to kill me before you even asked what I was doing!”

“Wait,” Arlon says to H. “Let me get this straight, a girl with an incredible skill with Pokeballs snuck onto your ship and broke into your most secure facility with ease and your first instinct was to bloody _kill_ her? Are you fucking _mental?_ Wait, don’t bother. I don’t even know why I asked that bloody question. Of course you are.”

“She broke into a secure area full of highly dangerous and sensitive equipment. Yeah, security-wise, that is definitely my first reaction.”

“Well, this girl obviously has talent. I would have hired her on the spot.”

“I’m trying to change the Universe and I can’t do that with untrustworthy people breaking into my incredible useful, sensitive equipment.”

“You’re bloody impossible, mate, you know that? Anyway, I’ve got a cargo hold to investigate. Let me know if you find anything out.”

* * *

Arlon makes his way down to the cargo hold without much trouble, easily slipping past the few guards he encounters. Once in, he makes his way to Councilor Nilsson’s crates. “Alright, I’m going through Nilsson’s cargo now,” he says into the earpiece Alex gave him.

“You’re in the cargo hold already?” Shane’s voice asks in his ear. “I don’t see you.”

“I know how to avoid the cameras, mate,” Arlon replies.

“Right, so what’s in the Councilor’s cargo?”

“One box has some sort of credit mining machine in it, presumably for a later presentation. The other one’s empty. Find out if Nilsson is presenting. I’m gonna check out Heinkel’s cargo in the meantime.”

“Alright,” Shane replies a few minutes later. “He’s scheduled to give a presentation in about an hour. They moved whatever was in that box out for it.”

“He’s probably clean then,” Arlon says as he arrives at Heinkel’s crates.

“It must be Heinkel then,” Morgan’s voice suggests.

“We can’t say for sure,” Arlon tells her as he begins opening one of Heinkel’s crates. “We need to find some substantial evidence before we go after- what the bloody _fuck?_ ” He suddenly interrupts himself.

“What?” Morgan asks. “What is it?”

A very suspicious, large metallic cylinder with a screen and several wires on it sits inside the box. “This,” says Arlon. He pulls out his Pokedex and snaps a picture. He then sends it to the _Helix_ crew, as well as his own crew on the _Halcyon_.

“That… looks bad,” Alex comments. “Like, if this was a movie that would be the-”

“Bomb?” Morgan finishes.

“Shit,” Arlon responds. “I did not see this one coming. This means Heinkel more than likely has the device we’re looking for. It’s definitely not here though. I need you guys to find the councilor and keep him occupied while I search his room. Shane, wipe me off the camera footage. I’m about to alert the guards to this bomb.”

Arlon hides from sight and then makes a loud noise to attract the guards: “WOOPWOOPWOOP! Hey, look, it’s a bomb!” As the guards run over, Arlon quickly slips out of the cargo hold and makes his way to the hotel area of the ship.

* * *

“Is the councilor in his room?” Arlon asks when he arrives in the hotel area.

“No, Morgan and Dmitri are talking to him now,” Shane’s voice sounds in his ear.

“Alright, I’m entering the room now.” Arlon easily breaks into the room and spots a few suitcases. He quickly searches through them.

“Hurry up, the councilor is leaving,” Shane tells him urgently.

Arlon quickens his search and checks the last case. Inside, he finds a strange looking device with fancy technology on one end and a retractable liquid-metal blade on the other. “I’ve got it,” Arlon tells his allies.

“The councilor is en route to his room,” Shane warns him.

Arlon quickly seals up the councilor’s luggage and exits the room. He then walks down the hallway toward the exit, passing by Councilor Heinkel on the way out.

* * *

Day three rolls around and the members of the _Helix_ crew begin their preparations for their presentation later in the day. Once they are ready, they make their way to the presentation hall to watch the other technology presentations. When they arrive, Councilor Finnegan of New Britain is wrapping up his presentation on cutting edge starship-grade weapons developed on his world, Dublin.

The next to present is Councilor Pennwood, who delivers a report on Romanov Supremacy weapons technology.

“Fighting against them is a bloody nightmare. The Supremacists are pulling all the tech stops. The most notable threat are their top of the line magnetic tractor beams. Tractor beam technology has existed for years, mostly used for mining, but the Supremacist tractor beams are capable of pulling in entire ships. They have also begun implementing tractor beams capable of embedding magnetic signatures into whatever passes through them. These ‘tracktor’ beams present a right bloody mess for our ships as the Supremacists are essentially able to track any ship that they have encountered in the past.”

Pennwood moves on to discuss the Supremacist broadsword class heavy cruisers, but Alex’s mind lingers on the tracking technology. She recalls how the _Helix_ had been trapped within Heilovic’s tractor beam for a long time and begins to worry about the safety of her crewmates and Pokemon back on Parisia.

Once Pennwood wraps up, Councilor Fontaine takes to the podium and introduces Morgan, Dmitri, Alex, and H. She then steps aside and allows Morgan to speak: “We have developed an advanced method of cybernetic augmentation to the human body, opening a wide range of possibilities. Through a process of infusing cybernetics into human DNA we have been able to increase the number of augmentations the body can handle as well as the power that they can output. Additionally, we have removed the threat of augmentation shock through the development of an immunity to electricity. And now our gracious volunteer, Subject H, would like to speak with you about his experiences.”

Morgan steps back from the podium and allows H to step up. H briefly clears his throat and then dives right into his speech: “People of this ship, Today is the day that Humanity takes its next evolutionary step towards perfection. Throughout our recent history, we have prevented all forms of evolution from taking place in our society. Our reasons for this are beyond justified, but that does not change our genetic stagnation. We have grown complacent with our physical failings and focused on improving our mind, leaving our body the same as it has been for the past millennia. Today, I propose we use our minds to change that.”

He pauses momentarily to take a breath but then dives right back in.

“Many of you may be wondering why I look different from the average Human. But you would be wrong, for today I look more Human than anyone ever has in our entire history. Today you witness a man with cybernetic DNA, Part primal Human, part the brainchild of Humanity. Cybernetic DNA is the perfect marriage of our past heritage and present ideas. It is a marriage that leads to a bright and shining future. So join me, become one with this idea and spread it to the universe so that we may all join in this incredible union of evolutionary progress.”

“We would like a volunteer with an electric type Pokemon to please send it out and attempt to hit him,” Morgan tells the audience.

Someone in the crowd releases an Electabuzz which walks up to the stage and blasts H with sparks of electricity. H completely absorbs the hit and the crowd begins to gasp and cheer.

“And now for a show!” H exclaims. He then blasts out electricity at set intervals to essentially play a short musical piece and crowd bursts into applause.

Afterwards, the crew is then asked various questions about the applications of this technology. They spend the next several minutes fielding questions until the ship suddenly rocks and the power blips off for a second.

The crowd begins murmuring in confusion.

“Whats going on?”

“Are we being boarded?”

 _Did the Romanovs track the ship here?_ Alex nervously thinks. _Wait… the ship’s not here. But how could they have…? The only other thing in the tractor beam was…_ She glances over at H standing by the podium and recalls that he had actually been stuck right to the tractor beam itself.

Alex is snapped out of her thoughts by a loud buzzing sound and looks over to see part of the wall being cut away. The panel is kicked in and a dozen warriors in red and black mechanized power armor wielding Aegislashes pour into the room and quickly dispatch the security forces in the room. Captain Heilovic steps into the room, flanked by two Bisharps. “Passengers of the _GCS Halcyon_ ,” he announces. His smooth, cold Romanov accent makes the words all the more menacing. “This _political summit_ is now a _military operation_.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy shit, that was an ending. Heilovic returns! The GM warned us that Romanov Supremacy Knight Commandos were a thing… and now we have to fight them! The buildup to that moment was amazing. As soon as the ship rocked, we slowly came to the realization that H had been tagged with that magnetic tracking and not the Helix. My anticipation for the next session was so high when I originally wrote this!
> 
> So a bunch of cool stuff happened in this chapter. First was Shane’s adventure in cyberspace, which was complete bullshit because that’s not how computers actually work, but it was still cool nonetheless. But with this attack, we were really gonna need to get him out of there!
> 
> I got to do more stuff as Arlon, which was fun. I knew keeping his character sheet would come in handy! And I got to RP with myself. I had been sitting on that line about asking H if he was “fucking mental” for trying to kill Alex for so long and I was glad I finally got to use it! And then there was that bomb! Did not see that one coming. I still wonder what Heinkel’s game was.
> 
> The good news is we got what we came for!


	58. Volume 2, Chapter 23: The Geneva Conspiracy, Part III

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> All hell breaks loose on the Halcyon as the Helix crew and the Red Suns battle against Heilovic and his squad of Romanov Knight Commandos.

“Passengers of the _GCS Halcyon_ , this _political summit_ is now a _military operation_.”

The crowd falls silent at Heilovic’s words. They look on with awe and terror as the Romanov captain and his two Bisharps step forward while his Knight Commandos move to block the exits. Alex seizes the opportunity to quietly slip off the stage and blend into the crowd.

The crowd parts before Heilovic as he approaches Councilor Heinkel. The captain stops in front of the councilor and the two begin discussing something. Morgan hears Heilovic ask Heinkel something, but she can’t make out exactly what he says.

“Yes, I have it. Follow me,” she hears the councilor reply. Heinkel turns and leads Heilovic out of the presentation hall in the direction of the hotel area of the ship. A pair of Knight Commandos follow them out the door, then split off in the direction of the cargo hold.

“Morgan, Dmitri, I’ve got a plan,” H suddenly says to his crewmates. “Get next to me. _Now_.”

They move in close and H throws his arms around them. A third, robotic arm emerges from under H’s shirt holding two smoke bombs. H uses it to throw one up at the ceiling and one down at the floor beneath them. He then lifts his leg and fires it at the doorway. It magnetizes to the wall, then H retracts it, pulling himself and his crewmates across the room. They fly over the Commandos guarding the door and make a break for it.

Seeing her crewmates fly across the room, Alex breaks from the crowd and runs after them. As she reaches the door, one of the Commandos grabs her. However, Alex manages to slip out of his grasp. Landing back on her feet, she quickly runs out the door.

* * *

Arlon stands in the the cargo hold with his Red Suns crewmates, looking on as Kiril Zhukov, the team’s explosives expert, examines the bomb he discovered in Councilor Heinkel’s cargo.

“What _is_ zat thing?” Rena Bourdeaux, the team’s Parisian sniper asks Kiril, looking over his shoulder.

“It’s a bloody bomb. We’ve already established this,” Arlon tells her.

“Not just any bomb,” the Romanov corrects him. “This is very sexy bomb. _Very_ fancy.”

“We’re not here to admire this thing,” Arlon reminds him. “Get to the important part: How does it work and how do we disarm it?”

“Well, there is warp drive core inside,” Kiril answers. He steps back from the bomb, revealing the now exposed core. “It is appearing to be power source.”

“A warp drive core?” Rena asks. “Let me ‘ave a look.” Being quite knowledgeable on warp technology, she has a pretty good idea of what might happen should this bomb go off. “Zis bomb is very dangerous,” she explains after examining its inner workings. “If it goes off, ze warp reaction will be catastrophic. It will cause a chain reaction with ze ship’s warp drive.”

“The good news is that timer is not active,” Kiril explains.

“ _Lovely_ ,” Arlon replies. “How do we disarm it?”

“If we fiddle with it, zere is a ‘igh chance that we will destabilize ze warp drive,” Rena warns him.

“And that would make the damn thing go off…” Arlon trails off.

Suddenly the ship rumbles and the lights flicker for a moment.

Arlon immediately reaches for his earpiece. “What the bloody hell is going on up there!?” he shouts into the comms.

“The Supremacists are here!” Shane’s voice replies.

“ _Shit_. What’s the situation?” Arlon asks.

“The rest of the crew is trapped in the presentation hall by a squad of heavily armored soldiers. I’m only seeing twelve on the security feeds, plus Captain Heilovic.”

“Understood,” Arlon tells him. “We need to deal with this bomb first. Once it’s taken care of, we’ll be there as soon as we can. Sit tight.” He then turns to his own crew. “The Supremacists have boarded the ship,” Arlon tells them. “Our first priority is the bomb. We need to get this bloody thing off the ship.”

“Ze only exit I remember was where all the passengers boarded,” Rena tells him. “But zis ship is probably crawling with troops.”

“We could just kill them,” Kiril suggests.

“Zat _could_ work,” Rena tells him.

“I like this plan,” Arlon agrees. “Rena, you and I will secure the hallway. Kiril, once it’s clear I’ll need you to move the bomb up.”

Arlon and Rena move toward the door, but before they can get close to the door, it opens and a pair of Knight Commandos step into the room, Aegislashes drawn.

“Hello there,” Arlon says to them. He reaches for a Pokeball and throws it out while his crewmates duck behind cover. He jumps back as his Nidoking emerges from his ball. The Commandos seem unfazed and simply step forward as their power armor’s shields blip online.

“Kaiser, use Thunderbolt!” Arlon commands his Pokemon while his crewmates throw out their own Pokemon. Sparks of electricity blast out from the Nidoking's horn and fly toward one of the Commandos. The commando raises his blade and blocks the attack, the Aegislash absorbing the electricity.

“Sleva, Screech,” Kiril commands his own Pokemon. The Electrode rolls forward and blasts the Commandos with a burst of high pitched noise, but their shields seem to absorb it.

“Ordinateur, use Shadow Ball,” Rena instructs her Metagross. The large Pokemon hangs back and fires a ball of dark energy at one of the commandos. The bulky, armored soldier sidesteps the attack and moves forward with the other. He swings at Sleva, but the Electrode rolls out of the way, right into the oncoming attack from the other.

In response, both Arlon and Kiril reach for a second Pokeball and send out another Pokemon. Rena takes aim with her sniper rifle while Arlon’s Zweilous and Kiril’s second Electrode move up.

“Kaiser, use Earth Power!” Arlon commands his Nidoking. Kaiser steps forward and stomps his foot down, sending a blast up from the floor beneath one of the Commandos. The Commando steps back and blocks the blast with his blade.

“Prava, use Screech. Sleva, use Spark,” Kiril commands his Electrodes. Prava fires a blast of high pitched sound at the Commandos, whose shields again absorb it. Sleva begins sparking as it rolls at one of the Commandos, who steps out of the way, causing the Electrode to go flying off into one of the crates.

“Ordinateur, use Shadow Ball again,” Rena commands her Metagross again. It fires off another ball of energy at the Commando it tried to hit before and this time it’s lined up for a direct hit. The Commando raises his blade and blocks the attack but the Aegislash appears to take a bit of damage in the process.

“Now, Hydra, follow up with Dark Pulse!” Arlon commands his newly released Zweilous. The pokemon hangs back and launches a pulse of energy at the same Commando. The Knight again blocks the attack but this time the Aegislash appears unharmed.

The other Commando moves up and aims his Aegislash at Kiril’s Electrodes. A giant beam of energy flies out from the tip of the blade and blasts right through Sleva and Prava, taking both Pokemon down. The more damaged one is close behind and moves up and slices at Hydra with his blade, dealing a nasty blow to the Zweilous. He then follows up with a powerful punch, knocking the Pokemon out.

Arlon recalls his fallen Pokemon and pulls out another ball. “Cinder, you’re up next!” he shouts as he throws it onto the field. His Typhlosion roars as she emerges from her ball. In response, the other Commando runs up to her and throws a punch. The mechanical armor whirs as the fist collides with Cinder, knocking the Typhlosion back.

Rena fires her sniper rifle at the other Commando, covering Kiril as he recalls his Electrodes and sends out his Weezing. The Commando manages to dodge out of the way and the shot collides with the wall.

“Cinder, use Flamethrower!” Arlon commands his Pokemon. Cinder breathes out a massive stream of flames at the Commando the team has been focusing on. He raises his blade to intercept the attack, but it burns right through the Aegislash’s defenses, knocking the Pokemon out. “Now, hit him while he’s open! Kaiser, use Thunderbolt!” Arlon’s Nidoking fires another blast of electricity at the Commando and lands a direct hit. The Commando’s armor starts sparking and smoking, but he remains standing.

“Ordinateur, finish ‘im off with Psychic!” Rena instructs her Metagross. It hangs back and fires a massive blast of psychic energy and takes the Commando down.

“Otrava, Haze.” Kiril instructs his Weezing. A hazy mist begins emanating from the Pokemon, filling the room and causing the remaining Commando’s shields sputter out. Using the haze as cover, Arlon removes the incendiary cannon from his back and fires it at the Commando. The target blocks the fiery projectile with his blade and shield. The Aegislash takes minimal damage from the hit but it appears to be burned. The Commando then moves in for another hit on Cinder, hitting the Typhlosion with another powerful punch.

Kiril emerges from his cover and pulls out his flamethrower. He moves up and fires a short burst of flames at the Commando, but the armored soldier is able to dodge out of the way. Rena takes aim at the Commando with her sniper rifle, but has a hard time lining up a shot because of the constant movement.

“Cinder, use Flame Wheel! Kaiser use Ice Beam!” Arlon commands both of his Pokemon. Cinder rolls into a ball and charges forward as a rolling mass of flames. The Commando blocks with his arm and then quickly deflects the powerful blast of ice incoming from Kaiser with his blade, the Aegislash taking a pretty hefty blow in the process.

“Otrava, Gyro Ball,” Kiril instructs his Weezing. The Pokemon rushes at the Commando, but cannot land a significant blow through the armor.

“Ordinateur, use Shadow Ball,” Rena commands her own Pokemon. The Metagross launches yet another ball of shadowy energy at the Commando, but he dodges it once again. His Aegislash begins glowing, and a protective shield forms around it. He then throws another punch at Cinder and knocks the Typhlosion out.

Both Rena and Kiril fire their weapons at the Commando, but he continues to avoid taking significant hits. He dodges out of the way of Rena’s sniper fire and then deflects the burst of flames from Kiril’s flamethrower with his Aegislash, which remains unscathed from the hit. Fortunately, the flames deal a slight bit of damage to the Commando himself.

“We’ve got to get a hit on this guy!” Arlon shouts to his crewmates.

“I’m trying, Arlon!” Rena shouts back.

“We’ve got to hit him with all we’ve got! Kaiser, use Thunderbolt again!” The Nidoking launches another blast of electricity at the Commando, who once again deflects it with his Aegislash, which remains unharmed. “Goddamn it!” Arlon swears as he reaches for another Pokeball. He throws it out onto the field and his Krokorok emerges. “Caiman, use Crunch!” The Krokorok rushes at the Commando, but he throws up his shield and pushes him back.

“Otrava, use Haze again!” Kiril shouts to his Pokemon. The Weezing dowses the room in misty haze again, once again disrupting the Commando’s shields.

“Ordinateur, use Zen ‘eadbutt!” Rena commands her Metagross. It rushes forward and slams into the Commando, knocking him into a crate. He immediately gets back up and takes a swing at Caiman with his blade, dealing a nasty blow to the Krokorok.

“Keep hitting him!” Arlon orders his crewmates. Rena raises a hand in the air and uses her psionic abilities to distort the area around the battlefield while Arlon and Kiril each throw out another Pokemon.

“Prizrak, use Night Shade!” Kiril commands his newly released Gengar. Prizrak fires off a blast of energy at the Commando’s Aegislash, bypassing its defenses.

“Now for another Earth Power!” Arlon commands his Nidoking. “Hit him hard Kaiser!” The Nidoking takes another step forward and stomps down hard, blasting the Commando with a powerful shockwave. The commando throws up his shield and blocks the incoming attack.

“Now, Jiraiya, use Water Pulse!” Arlon commands his Greninja. The Pokemon leaps up onto a crate and fires a blast of water at the Commando, who once again deflects the hit. “Don’t hold anything back! Caiman, use Crunch again!” The badly injured Krokorok leaps at the Commando and sinks his teeth into the armor, dealing a nasty blow.

“Ordinateur, use Psychic!” Rena commands her Metagross. It fires another blast of psychic energy at the Commando, but completely misses, launching a bunch of crates across the room.

“Otrava, Gyro Ball again,” Kiril commands his Weezing. The Pokemon throws himself at the Commando again, but the Romanov soldier continues to be an evasive target and dodges out of the way.

Arlon pulls out his pistols and fires off a few rounds at the Commando, but he easily deflects them with his Aegislash. The Commando then rushes forward and throws a punch at Arlon’s Krokorok, but the Pokemon manages to dive out of the way. Rena then fires another shot from her sniper rifle and Kiril fires another burst with his flamethrower. The Commando absorbs the hits with his blade but the Aegislash seems to be a bit worn down from the focused fire.

“Prizrak, Shadow Ball!” Kiril commands his Gengar. The ghostly Pokemon lobs a ball of shadowy energy at the Commando, but it goes flying off and explodes against the wall.

“Kaiser, Thunderbolt! Jiraiya, Water Shuriken! Caiman, Crunch!” Arlon barks out the orders one after another and his Pokemon oblige. The blast of electricity from the Nidoking and five shuriken from the Greninja barrage the Commando and knock him back. Then, the Krokorok goes in for another deadly bite with his sharp teeth, doing a number on the Commando.

“Ordinateur, use Zen ‘eadbutt!” Rena instructs her Metagross. The Pokemon crashes into the still staggering soldier and knocks him back even further. The Commando stomps down hard and stops himself from sliding. He then rushes forward and slashes at Kiril’s Gengar with his Aegislash. The armored Romanov takes the Pokemon down, but knocks his own Pokemon out in the process due to its burn.

“Otrava, finish him off. Sludge Bomb!” Kiril commands his Weezing. The Pokemon fires a poisonous ball of goo at the Commando and knocks him out.

* * *

Alex runs down the hallway and takes a hard turn around the corner, almost running right into her crewmates. She notices a relieved look on Morgan’s face upon seeing her.

“Alex, you made it. Good. I have a plan. It requires you specifically,” H tells her. “And also you,” he adds, turning to Dmitri. “We need to-”

“ _Oh no!_ ” Alex suddenly interrupts. “Loki’s Pokeball is missing!”

“What?” Morgan asks.

“The guard must have taken it when I- We need to go back now!”

Alex turns to run back to the presentation hall, but Morgan grabs her arm. “We can’t go back,” she tells the girl.

“But we _can’t_ just leave him there! He needs me! We have to save him!”

“We can do that later, but right now we need to get away from here.”

“The best way to save him is to not save him right now,” H chimes in. “If we try it now, we’re screwed. You know that as well as I do.”

“Fine,” Alex agrees. “But if anything happens to him…”

“We won’t let that happen,” Morgan tells her.

“Arlon here,” the familiar voice sounds over the comms. “We ran into a bit of situation down here. These Supremacist bastards are hard to take down. We ran in with just two of them and it was almost too much. What’s the situation like up there? Tell me you’ve escaped.”

“Yeah, we made it out,” Morgan tells him. “We’re in the residential area.”

“That’s a relief,” Arlon replies.

“You’ll be happy to know that I’ve managed to help get communications online,” Shane informs everyone.

“Excellent work,” Arlon tells him. “I’ll call the _Corsair_. See if you can’t get a hold of the Federation.”

“Hold up,” Shane tells him. “I’ve got Heilovic on the security feed. He seems to be responding to someone on their comms. I don’t think he found what he was looking for. It would be a huge help if we could hear what they were saying.”

“We’ve got two unconscious Supremacists down here,” Arlon replies. “This will be no problem. Kiril, take this helmet. Let me know what they’re saying.”

There’s a brief moment of silence before Arlon speaks again. “Heilovic’s headed your way. Watch out.”

“Thanks for the heads up,” Shane tells him. “If you could get your team over to the residential area-”

“We’re already on our way.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> With this session, we returned with the follow up to the previous week’s cliffhanger! Things got a bit weird on the timeline for the beginning of this session so I had to rearrange them for this chapter. For example, we RPed the escape after we did that combat encounter but I felt it was a good way to open things up. In fact, I think it was the only way that it made sense.
> 
> You may have noticed that in this chapter, our characters didn’t actually do any of the fighting. Knowing this was going to be a hard session, the GM said that the Red Suns could give us a hand! I’m glad I hung onto Arlon’s sheet. I had been leveling him and his Pokemon up alongside Alex in case something happened to her and I needed a new character. As you can see, most of his main team evolved since Volume 1 (some of which you have seen in Seeing Red, all of which was written after this volume ended). He also has his Nidoking back now. I hadn't even written Arlon's Origin Story at this point, but I had been working on it and had a lot of plot points established. The GM okayed it, so I threw it in.
> 
> I also took the time to build characters for both Rena and Kiril specifically for this session (with the added benefits of giving us some backup characters in case something happened to our current characters). For the trainers, I just threw together some classes that seemed fitting for them, and then for the Pokemon, I went back to the chapters where we fought against them in Volume 1 and figured out what their movesets were (although I did have to fill in some moves for the ones I didn’t know) so that they would be as accurate as possible. You may recall that after we beat Kiril, we wonder traded his Pokemon away, yet somehow he has them back now, as you should have seen in Seeing Red if you've been following along with the order I've arranged everything in this series. I’m not naming names here, but let’s say that a certain band of mercenaries may have hacked the Wonder Trade Network to get them back. Of course, there is no way I could have RPed all three of them plus Alex in one session so big thanks to Shane's player and Morgan's player for running Rena and Kiril, respectively.
> 
> Running combat as the Red Suns was a very fun change of pace. Those Knight Commandos though… They were so hard to fight. They just did not want to die! It’s a good thing Arlon and Kiril have such high command skill rank that the GM was okay bending the rules to allow them to command multiple Pokemon at once. It was such a blast to just be fighting with three of Arlon’s Pokemon at once.
> 
> Next chapter we reach the conclusion of this epic four chapter arc. I hope you find the conclusion as fantastic as we did!


	59. Volume 2, Chapter 24: The Geneva Conspiracy, Part IV

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Helix Crew and the Red suns hatch a plan to deal with Heilovic and his Knight Commandos.

“Here’s the plan,” H announces to his crewmates. “Dmitri, go to the spa area. Find any kind of alcohol and acupuncture needles and bring them back here. Alex, Morgan, you go to the med bay. Find any sleeping pills, knockout gas, sedatives, that sort of thing. As much as you can. And syringes. We need both of those. I’m going to be distracting people and, most importantly, I’m going to get my lab coat. I can’t deal with this without it. And Shane, you keep me updated about what the enemy is doing.”

“Alright,” Shane agrees. “I’m also gonna try to contact the _Halberd_.”

“Good idea,” Arlon tells him. “The _Corsair_ is on its way but it’s just one ship.”

“Everyone know the plan?” H asks. “Good. Let’s go.”

* * *

Morgan and Alex arrive in the ship’s med bay and immediately begin collecting the supplies H sent them to find.

“Why do we need all this crap?” Alex asks anxiously, still worried about her missing Pokemon.

“H has a plan,” Morgan tells her. “I don’t know what it is, but at least we have one.”

“I hope it works…”

“I’ve got everything,” Dmitri sounds over the comms.

“Excellent,” H replies. “Meet up in the pool room. What’s the status of those sedatives?”

“We’ve got them,” Morgan tells him.

“Alright, I got through to the _Halberd_. Graves is sending the Third Fleet,” Shane tells his crewmates. “There’s not really much else I can do from in here, so I think it’s time I got out.”

“Shane can you get here?” Morgan asks. “I’m plugging your drive into one of the computers here in the med bay.” Morgan runs up to a computer and quickly plugs it in.

“I see it. I’m working my way to you,” Shane replies.

“Hurry up,” H tells him.

* * *

H rounds the corner in the hallway and arrives at the _Helix_ crew’s room. As he approaches the room he begins casting off his uncomfortable clothing. Once inside, he tears open his suitcase and dons his lab coat.

“Much better,” he says to himself.

H then runs out of the room and starts heading for the pool room. He rounds a corner and runs right into Captain Heilovic and his Bisharps.

“Ah,” the captain says smugly. “Our _invitation_.”

“Invitation?” H asks. “Of course! I don’t know why you were invited. It must have been to see me. Thank you. Well, I appreciate you coming, although I am certain my colleagues do not appreciate you being here, so, if you could, please, just leave.”

“I don’t believe that’s going to happen,” Heilovic replies.

“Well then, may tonight’s entertainment truly begin,” H tells him. He then turns and runs at full speed in the other direction.

“You’re not going anywhere,” the captain says as he raises his hand.

H feels himself being magnetically pulled toward Heilovic, so he magnetizes his feet to the ground to keep himself in place. “I know you want me, but you aren’t getting me.” He reaches for a Pokeball and releases his Swablu.

Heilovic shakes his head. “The odds do not look to be in your favor.”

“Those things?” he asks in regard to the captain’s Bisharps. “Nah, not messing with them. I figure I’m gonna be here for a while so I figure I may as well have something to cuddle with.” He grabs his Pokemon and pulls him in close.

Heilovic lets out a short, cold laugh. “Would you like to take a little _tour_ with me?”

“I guess,” H replies. “But I would like if you showed #7 here first.” He releases the Pokemon and launches it at Heilovic using his belly-pogo. “Use Sing!” The Swablu stops in front of the captain and lets out an unpleasantly high-pitched screech, knocking him out. Heilovic’s magnetic pull dissipates and H attempts to run. The captain’s Bisharps move in and slash at both H and his Pokemon, both delivering very nasty blows. #7 goes down, but H manages to keep himself up. He recalls his Pokemon, then bolts away at top speed.

* * *

H arrives at the pool room to find the rest of the _Helix_ crew and the Red Suns waiting. “Glad you could make it, mate,” Arlon tells him. “Tell us about this little plan of yours.”

“Alright, here’s the plan,” H says to everyone. “We need to get as many of those Romanov Commandos in here as possible. We’ll split them up. Break some off into the other room where Shane can use his Inkay to put them to sleep and then use whatever sedatives we have here to take care of the rest.”

“We fought against these bastards already,” Arlon tells him. “There’s no way you’re getting through that armor to inject them with sedatives.”

“Alright, then we’ll just have to rely on the Inkay. As for the rest of them, we need to get them into the pool. Alex, we’ll need Leviathan for this part. We need to throw as much electricity as we can at these guys once they're in the pool. Then, we freeze the whole thing over.”

“But not if one of them has Loki’s ball,” Alex tells him. “We need to get him back.”

“Right, right. We’ll keep an eye out for it.”

“Ironhide can take care of getting them in the pool,” Arlon chimes in. “An Aggron is one of the few Pokemon that can match strength and size with these guys.”

“Good,” H tells him. “Have it weaken the tiles by the edge of the pool as well.”

“Right,” says Arlon. He pulls out his Aggron’s ball and releases the Pokemon. “Ironhide, see if you can’t weaken the floor by the pool.” He points to the spot and the Aggron walks over and starts stomping on the ground, weakening the floor.

“So, are we ready to do this thing?” Shane asks.

“We need to get into their communications first,” says H.

“We’ve still got this helmet,” Arlon tells him. “If we can hack into it, we can get their communications on our own comms and have the advantage over them.

“Give it here,” Alex tells him. Arlon tosses the helmet to her and she begins hacking into it.

While they wait for Alex to break into the helmet, Arlon hears the familiar voice of Matt Suzuki, the _Corsair_ 's pilot, over the Red Suns' comms: “I heard you could use a hand. Mind if we crash the party?”

“It’s about time you showed up,” Arlon tells him.

“You didn’t think we were gonna let you have _all_ the fun, didya?”

“We’ve got a situation here,” Arlon reminds him. “Petra, are you there?”

“I’m here,” Arlon’s lieutenant, Petra Azarov, replies.

“Good. There’s a bomb in the cargo hold. I need you to take a squad and secure it. Make sure these Supremacist bastards can’t get to it. We’re trying to lure them to us, so you shouldn’t hit too much resistance.”

“Understood,” the Romanov woman replies.

“Backup’s here,” Arlon announces to the rest of the team. “How’s that helmet coming?”

“Almost done,” Alex tells him. “Should be right about- _there_.”

Suddenly, the sound of the Supremacist radio chatter crackles over everyone’s comms.

“Nice work, kid,” Arlon tells her. “Let’s get this bloody plan rolling.”

“Oh, is Heilovic listening?!” H shouts across the Supremacists’ comm channel. “Or is he taking a little nap on duty!? Who wants to come finish the job that he started!? One that he’s incompetent of doing against the chosen savior of the universe! Come on down to the pool! Make sure to bring your floaties!”

“Oh, really?” the team hears Heilovic ask over the comms. The Supremacist chatter then falls silent.

* * *

From the doorway to the room opposite the hall from the pool room, Shane and Morgan watch as a squad of five Knight Commandos marches down the hall toward the pool room. Shane notices one of them has Alex’s missing Pokeball and relays the information over the comms.

“Got it,” Arlon replies. “I’ll make a move for it when I get the chance.”

The Commandos stop outside the door and begin powering up their shields.

“Come on in,” H says to them from the pool. “The water’s fine.”

After several more minutes of powering their shields up, the Commandos move into the room.

“NOW!” H shouts.

There’s a loud crash as Ironhide bursts through the wall with Arlon riding on his back. The massive Pokemon plows the metal slab of the wall into the Commandos and  knocks two of them into the pool. The remaining three magnetize their feet to the floor and hoist the wall slab up and out of the way.

Having failed to split any of the Commandos off the main group, Shane and Morgan run into the room. “C.A.L.I., use Topsy-Turvy!” Shane commands his Pokemon. The Pokemon fires a strange blast of energy at one of the remaining Commandos, which causes his armor to short out, knocking him into the water.

Arlon spots Alex’s Pokeball on one of the remaining Commandos and leaps off of his Aggron’s back. He lands behind the Commando and nabs the ball off of him. “Hey, kid!” he shouts to Alex. “Catch!” He leaps out of the Commandos’ reach and tosses the ball to Alex.

The girl reaches out and catches the ball, then quickly places it on her belt. She then reaches for another and releases Leviathan. The mighty Pokemon fills the room with storm clouds and it begins to rain. “Use Thunder!” Alex shouts. Leviathan casts down a giant bolt of lightning and it strikes the water as H unleashes one of his own. The entire pool sparks and shorts out the Commandos’ armor.

H quickly jumps out of the water as Kiril pulls a frost cannon off his back. “Stand back!” the Romanov shouts as he takes aim. Once everyone is clear, he fires the cannon at the pool and the whole thing freezes over, leaving the Commandos and their Pokemon trapped.

The two remaining Commandos rush at Shane’s Inkay. One lands a punch, but the small Pokemon manages to avoid the second. Shane then vanishes from the room, dropping into warp space to prepare for an attack from behind, while Rena throws up a barrier to protect the team from the Commandos.

“Leviathan, use Water Spout!” Alex commands her giant Pokemon. Leviathan moves in close to the Commandos and fires off a massive blast of water, breaking through their tough defenses and dealing a nasty blow to both of them.

Shane’s Inkay fires a hypnotic beam at one of the Commandos, but he deflects it with his blade, causing the Aegislash to fall asleep instead of himself. The other Commando rushes at the Inkay and swipes at her with his blade, dealing a heavy blow to the Pokemon.

“Ironhide, use Iron Tail!” Arlon commands his Pokemon. The Aggron moves up to the Commandos and smashes one of them with his tail, sweeping him off his feet. Ironhide then slams his tail down on the downed Commando, knocking him out. Arlon then pulls out another Pokeball and releases his Greninja.

Shane drops out of warp space behind the remaining Commando and hits the Aegislash before the Romanov has a chance to block the attack.

“You’ve lost this one,” Arlon says to the Commando. “We’ve got you surrounded. Stand down.”

“You are not my commanding officer,” the Commando replies coldly. “You are _not_ Romanov.” He then takes a swing at Shane, who happens to be the closest person to him, but he teleports out of the way.

“Wrong move, mate,” Arlon tells the Commando.

“C.A.L.I., use Topsy-Turvy!” Shane commands his Inkay. The Pokemon blasts the Commando with another wave of strange energy, shortening out his shields and weakening his armor plating.

“Jiraiya, finish him off!” Arlon orders his Greninja. “Water Shuriken!” The Greninja throws a bunch of watery projectiles at the Commando, four of which hit him dead on and knock him to the ground. The Commando tries to get back up, but Arlon places his foot on the Romanov’s back and pushes him back down. “You should’ve _fucking_ surrendered, mate.” He kicks the man in the head and knocks him out.

“I am hearing on comm that Federation fleet is here,” Kiril announces to the group, being one of the few in the room to understand Romanov. “Heilovic is going to ‘Plan B.’ They are evacuating.”

“I don’t like the sound of that…” Arlon tells him.

“Arlon, we’ve got a problem,” Petra informs the Red Suns leader over the comms. “The timer on the bomb just activated.”

“ _Shit_. How much time is left?”

“Five minutes.”

“Arlon, if zat bomb goes off it will react with the warp drive of every ship in the Federation fleet,” Rena warns him. “We ‘ave to disarm it.”

“Goddamn it!” Arlon shouts, “Matt, hail the Federation fleet, warn them about the bomb, tell them to keep their distance.”

“Got it, boss,” the pilot responds.

“Petra, we’re on our way to you now. Everyone else, fall back to the _Corsair_! You’ve got five minutes!”

* * *

The team rushes back to the cargo bay, avoiding the panicking masses of conference-goers. Short of breath, they arrive at with four minutes left on the timer.

“We need to disarm this thing  _now!_ ” Arlon shouts.

“It looks like this bomb is designed to create an unstable warp explosion,” Shane tells the group. “I’m going to focus on keeping the Warp stable and try to buy us some time.”

“Can we find a way to disconnect the warp core and get it out of here?” Arlon asks.

“There’s no way. If we try to disconnect something, it could cause the bomb to explode,” H tells him.

“We don’t have time for this,” Petra warns them. “We need to get out of here now.”

“We ‘ave to do something,” Rena tells her. “Ze ramifications of zis ship exploding…”

“It will not be so easy,” Kiril points out. “This is very advanced technology.”

“But wasn’t it the Red Suns who made that warp gate virus?” Shane asks.

“From what I understand, Garth acquired that virus from…” Arlon trails off.

“From who?” Shane asks.

“From Mr. Silver... The tech in this bomb feels too much like him. He has to be involved. When we get out of here, we need to take that son of a bitch down.”

“We need to deal with this bomb first,” Morgan tells him.

“Well, if you have any bloody ideas on how to disarm it, by all means!” Arlon shouts.

The room devolves into a shouting match of contradicting theories about disarming the bomb. All the while, the timer slowly ticks away. Alex stares at her friends as they shout angrily at everyone in the room. _I have to do something_ , she thinks. _But I don’t know anything about bombs… I only know about… Pokeballs…_

She reaches into her bag and pulls out the ball she modified to store non-living matter. She looks at it for a moment and then tightens her grip around it. While the others argue, she walks up to the bomb and presses the ball up against it. Morgan notices her doing this, but she’s too late. “What are you-?”

The room falls silent as the bomb is pulled inside the ball.

Boop.

The ball begins glowing.

 _Boop_.

Alex feels it getting warmer in her trembling hand.

 ** _Boop_**.

The ball glows brighter and continues to increase in temperature, but the bomb appears to be secured inside the ball. Alex feels the ball painfully burning her hand, but she is too afraid to let go.

Shane snaps back to reality and grabs the ball out of the girl’s hand. He then jumps into the nearest computer he can find and throws the ball away before jumping back to the real world. “I left it inside the computer,” Shane tells the rest of the team. “I think that’s all we can do.”

“Right, let’s get out of here,” Arlon agrees. “Everyone fall back to the _Corsair_.”

The team runs as fast as they can to where the Red Suns’ frigate is docked and quickly climb aboard. “Matt, get us out of here!” Arlon shouts as he runs to the bridge.

“Already on it,” the pilot tells him.

“Sir, I’m getting some strange readings from the _Halcyon_ ’s warp drive,” one of the bridge crew tells Arlon as he arrives on the bridge. “It seems to be powering up.”

“You’ve got to be shitting me.”

“No, sir.”

“Can we hail them?” Shane asks as he arrives on the bridge.

“Go ahead,” Arlon tell him, opening a channel to the _Halcyon_.

“Hello, can anyone hear me?” Shane asks.

“This is the _Halcyon_. We’re in the midst of evacuations.”

“Is there any chance you could conduct evacuations without the power on?”

“That would turn off life support.”

“Right. Can you cut power to the just the warp drive, then?”

“We’ll try deactivating it.”

“Sir, the Supremacist ship is leaving,” Matt announces.

“Follow that bastard,” Arlon orders him.

Matt pursues the _RSS Envy_ as the ship fires a volley of shots at the _Halcyon_ , the nearest Federation ship, and the _Corsair_. Matt rolls the ship and avoids the incoming fire.

Arlon sits down at one of the gun controls and takes aim at the _Envy_. “All hands, man the guns,” he orders over the comms. “Take down that Romanov ship!” The _Corsair_ fires a massive volley of laser fire at the _Envy_. Explosions detonate all along the Romanov destroyer, crippling the engines. “Burn in hell, you son of a bitch.”

“The readings off the _Halcyon_ ’s warp drive are getting really weird,” the same crewman from before announces.

“Get us out of here!” Arlon orders Matt. The pilot fires up the warp drive and jumps away as another of the _Envy_ ’s engines explodes.

* * *

Several hours later, the Corsair drops out of warp space in the next system. Arlon stands on the bridge with his lieutenants and the _Helix_ crew. He flips through the galactic news stations to see panicked reports and wild speculation about the incident. The region of space once occupied by the Halcyon is scattered with debris, bits of ships warped— _glitched_ —together. No whole ships remain.

Shane watches silently in horror as the chaos unfolds on the screen. Similar glitches as those surrounding the wreckage now surround Shane, as tears stream down his face. He falls to his knees and asks, “What have I done?”

“If you ‘adn’t done what you did zen,” Rena comforts him. “Zere would almost certainly be nothing left.”

Arlon angrily punches the wall. “That still doesn’t change the fact that all those people died!” He storms off the bridge and kicks the door frame on the way out, his steel-toed boot clanking off the hard metal.

“What crawled up his ass?” Matt asks.

“You are such a-” Rena stops herself. “I ‘ad best see if 'e is alright.” She walks off the bridge after Arlon, leaving the _Helix_ crew on the bridge with the remaining lieutenants.

* * *

Increased communication chatter all across the galaxy: news stations, private messages, classified reports. On both sides, to little surprise. One such broadcast from behind the “Great” Firewall displays.

“В память о капитане Ли Халилович в PCC зависть , который отдал свою жизнь на службе своей славной нации , что она может столкнуться боги сильным и непокоренный.”

 _Well then_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow. What an ending to this two session arc. We got what we came for, but the Halcyon was destroyed, a massive number of galactic leaders are now dead, and our heroes are very shaken up the the experience. The good news is that Heilovic is dead. He got what was coming to him.
> 
> Dealing with the bullshit that was the Knight Commando was much easier when we used our own bullshit. H’s player is such a good bullshit master! The pool was a huge help, plus Shane’s Inkay reversing the Commando’s combat stages with Topsy-Turvy was one of the most useful things. We got away with so much bullshit in that fight because we had burnt out the GM in terms of combat by the end of this session (but that’s what you get for throwing such bullshit at us).
> 
> That bomb though. I thought we’d won when we put the damn thing in a Pokeball and then stuck it in cyberspace, but I guess I was too optimistic. At the very least, we managed to mitigate the damage by turning the warp bomb into a glitch bomb.


	60. Profile 5: The Pilot

It was a quiet day on the _Helix_. But not that creepy quiet like after we left that weird Mirror Planet. It was the good kind of quiet. The sort of quiet I didn’t get to experience enough on the _Helix_. Don’t get me wrong, though, I quite liked the job. The pay was good, I got to travel to some rather _interesting_ places, and my employers … well, I liked them well enough, but they could be a bit … _intense_. It was nice to have them off the ship for a few days. It was almost like I had the place to myself. Dr. Wi kept to himself for the most part and Dr. Armstrong … well, let’s just say he was too drunk to leave his lab most of the time. There _were_ the Red Suns that were looking after the ship, but they mostly stayed in the security room they set up. So, yeah, I basically had the place to myself.

Like the day before, I woke up at what was the middle of the night according to local time, but, as a pilot, I was used to operating at strange hours since day and night aren’t a thing in space. After climbing out of my sleeping pod, I made my way to the back of the ship to grab something to eat and take my daily dose of nine different medications and dietary supplements. Then, I settled myself down on the small couch in the living quarters, kicked my feet back and began browsing the television channels. Since the _Helix_ was docked on Parisia for a few days while upgrades were being installed, I really didn’t have much else to do.

I spent the next couple of hours jumping from station to station, from one mildly entertaining program to the next. There wasn’t anything that great on at the time, but what else was I gonna do? Parisia was a place for high fashion and touristy crap, neither of which were my cup of tea. Watching boring garbage on TV was _definitely_ a much better option.

“You actually enjoy this crap?” I suddenly heard a voice behind me. I turned my head to see Luke, the Red Sun in charge of looking after the _Helix_ , walking out from the bathroom.

“Eh, not really,” I answered. “But what else am I gonna do? Not exactly much to do around here.”

The large, dark-skinned mercenary crossed the room and leaned his hands on the back of the couch. “Well, you could come hang out with us in the security room,” he said. “We’re playing poker if you want to join.”

I glanced over at the TV. While I was quite comfortable on the couch, I had to admit that I was a _bit_ bored. I turned back to Luke and shrugged. “Eh, why the hell not?” I said as I stood up. “There’s nothing good on anyway.”

* * *

“Looks like I win again,” Luke said with a devilish smile on his face. He laughed as he swept up the pile of chips from the center of the table.

“Remind me never to play cards with ya again, ya sly bastard,” Aidan, the lanky, red-haired Genevan, responded.

“What’s wrong, McMahon?” Luke asked him. “Afraid of losing?”

“Losing my credits, certainly, lad.”

I simply smirked. “Maybe you just need to invest your credits in a better poker face instead of blowing them on gambling,” I suggested.

Aidan scowled.

Kendall, the only other woman in the room, laughed. “You gonna just take that, McMahon?” she teased from across the table.

“Oh, be quiet, Carter. If I wanted yer opinion I would’ve asked fer it.”

“You’re not still mad about that business on Minaria, are you?” Kendall asked.

“You only bloody shot me, lass, why would I still be mad?”

I raised my eyebrow. “What happened on Minaria?”

Luke laughed. “Carter here shot McMahon right in the ass.”

I raised my other eyebrow.

“It _was_ set to stun,” Kendall said.

“So what? My arse was sore fer a whole week!”

“Sounds like there’s a story there,” I said.

“A good one too,” Luke said. “It was a Federation contract. They’ve got their hands full with the war, so they needed our help to deal with some pirates out in Sector 31. Of course, the boss had us all busy with recruitment, so we had to go in with a small team. It was just me, these two, and Martinez over there.” He pointed over at Danny, their tech guy, on the other end of the room who was still fiddling with the security system they had set up.

“Obviously the four of us weren’t gonna take on a small pirate fleet on our own, so we played it smart,” Luke continued. “We tracked ‘em down to Minaria and infiltrated their base while they were out raiding. Rigged their landing pads to blow, and waited for ‘em to come back. Then, _boom!_ ” He slammed his fist down on the table, causing the chips to bounce slightly.

“Miraculously, their leader survived the blast and we had to chase him down on foot. He slipped out into the city, so we split up to corner him. Martinez cut him off with our skycar and forced him into an alleyway. McMahon and I converged on him, but he managed to slip by. Carter was up on the roof lining up a shot, but right as she fired, McMahon tackled the guy. He took him down, but took the shot right to his left cheek!”

I couldn’t help but laugh a little.

“Luckily, Carter had her rifle set to stun because of the tight quarters,” Luke continued. “Didn’t want to risk hitting one of us with a lethal shot.”

“Doesn’t mean it didn’t hurt,” Aidan cut in.

“It was still hilarious, though!” Danny shouted from across the room.

“How would you like it if I shot _you_ in the arse, laddie!?” Aidan shot back.

“Ah, quit whining and deal the cards,” Kendall told him.

“That’s quite the story,” I said as I picked up my hand.

“We’ve got plenty of ‘em,” Luke replied. “But what about you? The boss has told me some pretty crazy shit about your employers, you must have a few good stories yourself.”

“ _They_ have the crazy stories. _I_ stay on the ship where it’s safe. You’re not gonna find me diving into submerged lightning caves or exploring creepy soul-draining pyramids. No thank you.”

“The boss wasn’t kidding about the crazy shit,” Luke said.

“Oh, you have _no_ idea. I don’t even _want_ to know how they even find these places.”

“But no stories?”

“Not really.”

“Well, you’ve been a pilot for a while, right? Got any from past jobs?”

I had to stop and think for a moment. He was right; I had been a pilot for a while. Surely I had to have _some_ stories. I set my cards down as one popped to mind.

“Well … I suppose there _was_ that one time …”

* * *

Before I was hired to fly the _Helix_ , I was the pilot for the _GCS Horizon_. It was a small Genevan bucket owned by a man from Albion named Galen Jarvis. Despite its size, the _Horizon_ was easily the fanciest ship I ever flew. As a somewhat affluent individual, Jarvis didn’t hesitate to pull out all the stops with his ship, including paying for the best pilot he could find, if I do say so myself. He didn’t even hesitate to pay for all the necessary accommodations I required. The man wasn’t _super rich_ or anything, but he certainly had enough to be able to just fly wherever he wanted in the Galaxy on a whim.

And that’s what he did. Jarvis just wanted to travel and explore. He and I were alike that way, so it was a good fit for me. Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t leave the ship to explore the planets we landed on like he did, but I quite enjoyed all the exotic vistas I got to see out the viewports. The crew was good company too, for the most part. The only real downer was Jarvis’s son, Edward. He was _very_ uptight and was _always_ criticising his dad for spending too much money. Man, I hated that guy … But that’s beside the point.

One day we were traveling through the Arkos system out in Sector 26 and ran into some trouble. There were some weird planets out there with some pretty exotic plant and Pokemon life that Jarvis wanted to check out, so we were spending a few days in the system to visit all of them. So there we were, on this planet called Maru. It was this big grassy planet with these weird looking trees and giant mushrooms. They were easily the biggest mushrooms I’ve ever seen in my life, some even towering over the trees.

I was sitting on the _Horizon_ ’s bridge watching some Parasects skittering around underneath a patch of the huge mushrooms near where we landed. It was a very relaxing experience, peaceful too. It was calm and quiet both outside and on the ship. Jarvis and most of the crew were out exploring and had been gone for several hours by this point. I wasn’t expecting them back anytime soon, though, so I wasn’t worried or anything.

I had been sitting for a long while, so I stood up and stretched myself out. I needed a good change of position. It was at that moment that I became aware of a faint buzzing sound in the distance. I didn’t think much of it, and finished stretching before I sat back down. A few minutes later, I realized the sound hadn’t stopped. In fact, it had grown far louder.

“What the hell is that sound?” I asked myself aloud even though no one was around. I gazed out the viewport and thought I saw some shapes moving in the distance. Seconds later, I _knew_ there was something there. Several somethings, in fact, _and they were getting closer_.

“Minerva, are you there?!” Jarvis’s voice suddenly came in over the comms. He sounded frantic and out of breath.

“Yeah, I’m here,” I responded. “What’s the problem?”

“Get the ship ready take off! We’re in a bit of a pickle here!”

I looked back out the viewport to see that the shapes I saw were much closer. Now I could clearly see Jarvis and the crew running back toward the _Horizon_ with several large Yanmegas in pursuit. Now, these weren’t your ordinary Yanmegas. They were a bit beefier, and had long necks, larger, more pronounced jaws, oversized back legs, and extra spines running all the way down their backs.

“I can see that,” I said over the comms as I began firing up the engines. “Let me know as soon as you’re on board.”

Moments later, the crew was back on the _Horizon_ and the ship itself was almost ready for takeoff. As they all came up to the cockpit, there was a loud thud as one of the Yanmegas touched down on the hull. Then there was a second … and a third.

“Hurry and get us out of here before they damage the ship!” Edward shouted.

“Just relax,” I responded. “I’m going as fast as I can.”

That was when one of the dragon bugs crawled over the viewport, its large red eyes peering in at us. It snapped its jaws menacingly and I felt my skin begin to crawl. Suddenly, the console lit up, signaling that it was okay to take off. I wasted no time, and punched it to maximum power.

“ _Nope! Nope! Nope!_ ” I shouted as the _Horizon_ rocketed upward through the atmosphere. The Yanmegas were ripped away and left in the dust as we rose higher and higher.

I let out a relieved sigh and leaned back in my chair. “How about we stay away from planets with giant, killer bug Pokemon from now on?” I asked.

Jarvis simply laughed. “Oh, Minerva, where’s your sense of adventure?”

“Getting eaten by an oversized Yanmega isn’t my idea of an adventure.”

Jarvis laughed again and I simply shook my head. Maru wasn’t the first time we got into a situation like that, and it _certainly_ wasn’t the last.

* * *

“Now _that_ was quite the story,” Luke said with a laugh. “Jarvis sounds like quite the character.”

“That he was,” I agreed. “He may have got us into all kinds of crazy situations, but I liked the old man quite a bit.”

“What made you leave then?” Kendall asked. “Sounds like you liked the job a lot.”

“It wasn’t my decision. Jarvis passed away early last year. He left the _Horizon_ to Edward, and … well, let’s just say he didn’t think I was worth the money.”

“That sucks.”

“Yeah, well, it wasn’t really worth sticking around without Jarvis there anyway. And things worked out, since I ended up here. This ship’s crew might be a bit crazy, but they’re alright … just like this hand,” I smiled smugly as I peered at my cards again, then slid a stack of chips toward the center of the table.

“Now we’re talking,” Luke said. He slid an identical stack of chips in. “I’ll take that bet … and I’ll raise you another thousand credits.” The mercenary tossed a few more chips into the pot, then leaned back in his seat. “So, what made you want to be a pilot anyway?”

Now _that_ was an interesting question.

* * *

Why _did_ I want to be a pilot? That’s a question I got asked a lot. People with my condition don’t usual pursue careers as dangerous as mine, or even pursue much of a career at all. The way I see it, I couldn’t be anything else _but_ a pilot. To just sit around and accept being held back by my condition definitely isn’t my style. No, I wanted to make something of my life. I wanted to see the stars.

When I was growing up on Mälaren I didn’t get to do much of anything or go much of anywhere. I had what were probably the most overprotective parents in _the entire Galaxy_ , and that is no exaggeration. Even if I was perfectly normal, perfectly healthy person, they would have been overbearing, but the fact that I _wasn’t_ made it all the worse. Don’t get me wrong, my parents meant well, but … let’s just say that my childhood experiences were rather _limited_.

The only real time I got to spend away from home was at school. If they could have, I’m sure my parents would’ve homeschooled me, but luckily for me, they both had careers and didn’t have the time. For the longest time, my life followed the same routine: go to school in the morning, then return home as soon as it ended and stay there until the next morning. Being cooped up inside all the time grew more frustrating the older I got. And so I would dream that I was somewhere else, off amongst the stars, traveling from world to world in a ship all my own.

By the time I was a teenager, I couldn’t take it any longer; I needed to get out. Fortunately, there _was_ someone in the family who understood, even if it wasn’t my parents. My uncle Ola, my dad’s older brother, worked for a manufacturer of high-end luxury ships based on Mälaren, designing flight systems. As a kid, I always looked forward to his visits because he would always bring me models of ships for us to build together and, unlike my parents, he actually humored my dreams of traveling the stars. Without a doubt, Uncle Ola was the reason I wanted to become a pilot.

I still remember the day I made up my mind quite clearly. I was about thirteen at the time, and my parents, being somewhat important government officials, were gone for a few days, attending a conference with Councilor Nilsson. I, of course, insisted that I was old enough to look after myself, but they didn’t see it that way, so they asked Uncle Ola to watch over me while they were away, which, in retrospect, was actually the best thing that could have happened.

It was the second day after my parents left, and I was lying on the couch, sprawled out and staring at the ceiling. It was the middle of the day, so there was nothing good on TV, and Uncle Ola and I had already finished building the model ship he brought.

“I’m _so bored_ ,” I declared. The ceiling didn’t have anything to say in response.

“Why don’t you try reading a book?” Uncle Ola asked, poking his head in from the neighboring room.

“I have to read enough books at school,” I grumbled. “I’m not gonna spend my time off reading _more_.”

My uncle just laughed. “Fair enough, but do you really have anything else to do here?”

“ _No_ ,” I answered bluntly. “There’s _nothing_ to do here. I _need_ to get out of here.”

“Then get your coat,” Uncle Ola said. “Let’s go.”

I sat up and gave him a confused look. “I wasn’t being _serious_ ,” I told him. “Mom and Dad would be _furious_ if they found out I went somewhere, and they’d _certainly_ kill you if something happened to me.”

Uncle Ola laughed again. “Then we’ll just have to keep this between us, won’t we?”

A smile slowly formed on my face. My uncle was the best.

And so, that was the day my uncle took me to see his work. It was the most fun I’d ever had up until that point. He showed me the latest ship designs he was working on and amazing full-scale models of his company’s ships, but the best part was the flight simulator. I saw it as we were preparing to leave.

“What is _that?_ ” I asked, pointing across the room at a large rectangular object that was moving and rumbling in place.

“Oh, that’s our flight simulator,” Uncle Ola explained. “Want to try it?”

“Are you kidding? Yes, _obviously_.”

“Alright then, kiddo. Let’s give it a shot.”

And that was how I got my first taste of flying. I felt the excitement building inside of me as I settled into the pilot’s seat. I couldn’t believe what was happening.

“Alright now, listen up,” Uncle Ola said. “These are the main controls.” He pointed to the steering mechanism directly in front of me. I placed my hands on the controls, gripping them tightly with anticipation. “Tilt forward to go down, back to go up. Left and right to roll, and those buttons on top to change your forward vector … Now, this is to control the power from the engines.” He placed his hand on another mechanism. “Slide it forward to increase power.”

As he continued to give me a rundown of everything I needed to know, I felt my excitement continue to grow. By the time he finished, I felt like I was going to explode. And then the simulation began, and I was flying amongst the stars, just like I’d always dreamed. I knew it wasn’t real, but it was the most incredible experience of my young life, and it was then that I knew I wanted more.

“You’re a natural at this,” Uncle Ola told. I could tell he was impressed.

“You really think so?” I asked.

“Absolutely. With enough practice, I think you could be one hell of a pilot.”

Once the simulation was over, we exited the simulator and we were back in reality, but I felt different. I knew things would never be the same again.

“Thank you for this, Uncle Ola,” I said. It’s never really been my thing, but I couldn’t help but give him a big hug.

“Don’t mention it, kiddo,” he told me, ruffling up my hair. “I was happy to do it, and I’ll be sure it stays our little secret.”

And so he did. It wasn’t until much later that my parents ever found out, but for the next few years, whenever there was time, Uncle Ola would take me back to try my hand at the flight simulator once more.

* * *

The room was silent as I finished my story. The Red Suns seemed to be in deep thought. After several moments, someone finally spoke.

“Have you ever considered writing a book?” Luke asked.

“Okay, that’s _not_ the response I was expecting to get.”

“I’m serious. You’re a great storyteller.”

“Well, I’m _flattered_. I’ll keep your suggestion in mind.”

“Just be sure to give me credit for the idea if you do write one. Now, how about this game? Anyone else wanna take their chances?”

“No way, laddie,” Aidan answered. He placed his cards down on the table. “I fold. I’m not takin’ my chances with ya again.”

“Carter?” Luke asked, turning his head toward Kendal.

“I think I’ll follow McMahon’s lead,” she replied. “I don’t like that smug sound in your voice.”

Luke seemed very confident. I was sure he had a good hand, but I _knew_ mine was better. I said nothing, and simply matched his bet.

“You’ve got some real balls taking that bet,” Luke said. “I like that, but I think I win this round.” He placed his cards down on the table, revealing four kings and a three.

I raised my eyebrow. He had quite a good hand after all, but mine was still better. I smirked as I saw him reach for the pot. “Not so fast, pal,” I said, revealing my own hand: a straight flush.

“Well, I’ll be damned,” Luke said. “Looks like _you_ win this round.”

“Damn right,” I said as I collected my winnings. Unfortunately, I didn’t get much time to celebrate.

“Holy shit. Uh, guys, you need to see this.” I looked over to see Danny looking at us with a shocked expression on his face.

“What now, Martinez?” Luke asked.

“The conference.” He pointed at the screen.

We all walked over to see a scene of carnage. The news was in a state of panicked speculation, the commentator’s speaking over the image of what was once the _GCS Halcyon_ and a Federation fleet. The ships were warped together in impossible ways.

“Holy shit,” Luke said. “I hope the others are alright.”

I remained silent. I didn’t know how to process what I was seeing. I didn’t know them very well, but I couldn’t help but feel just a little bit worried for the safety of my employers. I’d seen their mission logs, and I knew they’d survived some pretty dangerous situations, so I had a good feeling they made it out.

“I’m sure they got out of there,” I finally said. “They may be crazy, but they’re resourceful. It’ll take more than … _whatever this is_ to stop them.” Of course, I had no way of knowing if that was true, but I wasn’t going to count them out just yet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that’s another one done. This was one of the first profiles I started having ideas for when I first decided to work on this series, but I had no idea what it would look like until I went to write it. I knew I wanted to set it during the conference from the start, and it was only later on that I decided I would set it up as a frame narrative with Red Suns cameos, cards, and storytelling. It wasn’t until I went to write it months later that I started thinking about specifics. It was a bit hard at first since Minerva wasn’t a character I came up with initially and she didn’t have much established backstory to go off of, but the GM gave me free reign to expand her past.
> 
> On the frame narrative itself, I knew I would be giving Luke a cameo since he was the one tasked with looking after the Helix while the crew was away, but I needed to add a few more characters. Aidan McMahon was a character I’d come up with previously during Seeing Red, but I never ended up using him so it made sense to use him here, so I did. The other two characters I just came up with as I was writing this.
> 
> The two flashback/story scenes I chose to give Minerva a bit of background. For the first I just wanted to show what she did before signing on the fly the Helix. I made the whole thing up as I went along and it came together nicely. You can thank the GM for the idea to use dragon-shifted Yanmegas. It was a fun scene to write. The other scene took a bit more thought. It came out of my brainstorming of trying to figure out Minerva’s motivations as a character, and I’m happy with how it turned out. There are a lot more ideas that I came up with, but I didn’t really see a way of working them in. All in all, I’m very happy with how this profile came together and it was fun to mostly make it up as I went along.


	61. Volume 2, Chapter 25: Aftermath

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Helix crew and the Red Suns deal with the aftermath of the Galactic Governance Conference and make a plan to take the fight to Mr. Silver.

Silence falls over the bridge of the _UAS Corsair_. The crew of the _Helix_ and the remaining Red Suns seem unsure of what to do.

Finally, Morgan decides that someone needs to do something. “Do you mind if we contact our ship?” she asks the lieutenants.

“Go right ahead,” Petra tells her. The Romanov woman nods in the direction of the communications console and Morgan walks over to it. The communications crewman steps aside and allows her to call the _Helix_.

After a few seconds, Minerva’s face appears on the viewscreen. She calmly remains silent. Given the situation, the _Helix_ ’s pilot refrains from one of her typical quips. “Minerva?” Morgan asks.

“Mhm?” the pilot responds.

“We need you to come pick us up,” Morgan tells her.

“Alright. Send me your location. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

Morgan transmits the _Corsair_ ’s coordinates to Minerva, then hangs up. As she turns away from the console, Morgan hears her Pokedex ring. She pulls it out, looks at it briefly, then puts it back in her pocket as she walks away.

* * *

Rena enters Arlon’s personal quarters to find him sitting silently on his bed, deep in thought. “Arlon, are you alright?” she asks him.

“I just wish there was more we could have done,” he replies, seeming to have calmed down a bit. “There must have been _something_ we could have done differently.”

“We did everything zat we could,” Rena tells him. She walks up to him and places her hand comfortingly on his shoulder.

Arlon reaches up and places his hand on top of hers. “Sometimes I wonder if we’re doing the right thing. We’ve been chasing this goal for so _bloody_ long but…”

“We ‘ave come too far to give up now. You know zat.”

“I know… I just can’t help but ask myself if I’ve been making the right decisions. We’re so close now, but how many lives have we put in danger to get here? I can’t help but feel like I’m becoming like _him_ …”

“You are not Devlin Garth. Ze fact zat you are asking yourself zat question proves zat you are not ze same person. I think zat Lars would be proud of ze leader zat you ‘ave become.”

“Thanks,” Arlon tells her. He takes her hand in his own and pulls it close to his chest. “That really means a lot.”

* * *

After several hours, the _Helix_ drops out of warp space and hails the _Corsair_. Arlon joins the _Helix_ crew and the rest of his team on the bridge as the two ships dock with each other. “Leaving so soon?” he asks his former crewmates.

“Not quite,” Morgan tells him. “We just thought it best we let our crew know we’re still alive.”

“Right then,” the Red Suns’ leader responds. “I’ll give you time to get settled in, but we do need to discuss our next plan of action.”

Arlon follows the _Helix_ crew to the airlock where they are greeted by the men that Arlon sent to guard the their ship. “Glad to see you in one piece, boss,” Arlon’s lieutenant, Luke Anderson tells him. “I just wish I coulda been there.”

“There was nothing you could’ve done, mate,” Arlon replies as he taps him on the shoulder. “We were lucky to make it out of there alive.”

“Thanks for looking after the ship,” Morgan chimes in.

“Don’t mention it,” the Alliance mercenary tells her. “The boys and I were happy to look after her for ya. The security systems we installed are yours to keep.”

The Red Suns clear out of the way and allow the _Helix_ crew to return to their ship.

* * *

Upon the crew’s return to the _Helix_ , Armstrong and Bill provide them a detailed report on their research over the past few days. Before leaving for the conference, the crew had tasked the scientists with analyzing the Genesect samples they had collected after the battle of Solace Prime.

When he was analyzing the Genesect on his own, H had been unable to stimulate mitosis within the Genesect cells and it had completely halted his research. Armstrong and Bill’s combined analysis not only confirmed that Genesect cells do not go through mitosis, but it also revealed that they do not got through meiosis either. According to the scientists, Genesect cells completely lack any mechanisms for cellular division, although they do have remarkable mechanisms for the repair of existing cells. In short, these ancient life forms have no way of replicating themselves.

This information is quite puzzling to the crew of the _Helix_. It raises far more questions than it answers. How do Genesect reproduce? Where do they come from? The crew decides that they need to put more research into the ancient Pokemon, but for now they need to focus on the cyber-weapon and Mr. Silver.

After meeting with Armstrong and Bill, Morgan and Shane meet up with Arlon in the ship’s mess area to discuss their next move.

“First things first,” Arlon says as he places the cyber-weapon on the table. “Let’s figure out how this bloody thing works. You’re the technology people, what do you make of it?”

Shane picks it up off the table and looks at it for a few minutes. “It looks like it can extract data somehow. I’ll know more if I can get inside and have a look.”

“Go ahead, mate,” Arlon tells him. Shane nods, then assumes digital form and jumps into the device.

Inside, Shane finds a masterwork of decryption technology. It seems to do the impossible. He moves down through the device and arrives in what seem to be the main decryption “room.” As he enters, Shane feels a very strange feeling flowing over him. Some sort of mechanism sits at the center of the room doing _something_. While he is unsure of exactly what is happening, Shane knows that he has never encountered something like this before.

Having seen enough, Shane pops back into the real world. “This… is some pretty advanced software,” he reports to the others. “I’m an AI and even I don’t know how it works. It’s unlike anything I’ve ever seen before. I don’t think it’s entirely Human-made.”

“Like you?” Morgan asks.

“Yeah…”

“What have I missed?” Arlon asks.

“It’s… a long story,” Shane tells him. “Let’s just say that in our travels we’ve come across a lot of evidence of a very ancient and highly advanced civilization.”

“And that would explain why this device is so bloody powerful… Right then, we need to figure our next move. We should strike against Mr. Silver sooner rather than later.”

“So what do you suggest?” Morgan asks.

“I’ve got a couple ideas,” Arlon tells her. “Option A: you lot meet with Mr. Silver. While he's occupied with you, my team and I will sneak to the ship’s mainframe and use the device to hack into his network there. This will divide Silver’s forces, but it will put a lot more heat on us than you. Or we go with Option B: we go in together and stab that bastard right in the bloody face with the device. Those Mr. Mimes he uses… they’re all networked together. This plan will focus all of Silver’s forces in one spot, but with our combined forces we might be able to hold them off a lot better.”

“I like Plan B,” Morgan tells him.

“I was hoping you’d say that,” Arlon responds. “There’s just such a _personal_ touch to it. That settles it then; plan B it is. Now we just need to plan to meet with him.”

“I still need to meet with him about that skull…” Morgan says.

“He still hasn’t told you about the bloody skull?”

“No.”

“Well, at least now you have a reason to meet with him. Schedule a meeting with him and then let us know when and we will try to schedule one in the same timeframe.”

“Will do,” Shane responds.

“Oh, one last thing before I go.” Arlon reaches into his pocket and pulls out a dusk stone. “I bought it back when I was still part of your crew. I thought it might come in handy, but I never caught anything that required it to evolve. My team is set now, so I have no need for it. That girl, what was her name, Alex? She mentioned that she has a Lampent. Having it evolve might be useful for when we confront Mr. Silver.”

“I’ll give it to her,” Morgan tells him. She walks over to Arlon and takes the stone out of his hand.

“Right then, I’d best be off. I’ve got some unfinished business to take care of. Keep in touch.” Arlon departs from the _Helix_ and soon the _Corsair_ detaches and jumps away.

Morgan then contacts Mr. Silver. A comms officer appears on the view screen. “Yes?” he asks.

“We need to arrange a meeting with Mr. Silver,” Morgan tells him.

“State your business.”

“This is the _UAS Helix_. We’ve done business with Mr. Silver before.”

“And what business do you have to bring to him this time?”

“He promised he would provide information on an artifact I provided for him. He has not yet done so.”

“My employer typically does these things in his own time. What business have you to bring to him on this occasion?”

“We have another artifact for him,” Morgan answers, thinking quickly.

“Do you have visual verification?”

Morgan transmits video feed from the cargo hold of the Gardener Sphere.

“Very well, one moment please.”

The comms officer puts Morgan on hold and an uncomfortable silence falls over the bridge. Five minutes pass before the officer returns.

“Mr. Silver will see you,” the man tells her. “Please arrive at these coordinates at this time.” He transmits the location of a specific ship in the Outer Rim and a date and time exactly one week away, then hangs up.

Morgan immediately sends this information along to the _Corsair_. Once that is done, she and Shane plot a course to explore some random planets to pass the time until the meeting with Mr. Silver. Shane then heads off to the warp lab while Morgan goes to look for Alex.

* * *

Morgan enters Alex’s room to find it almost completely dark. Alex sits on the floor, slumped up against the wall, clutching her Meowstic tightly. Her Lampent floats by her head, giving off the only light in the room. She hasn’t even bothered to change out of her formalwear from the conference. It’s clear to Morgan that something is troubling the girl.

“Alex, are you okay?” Morgan asks. Alex remains silent. “Arlon and the Red Suns left, but he asked me to give you this.” She holds out the dusk stone that Arlon gave her. Alex glances up at her but doesn’t say anything. Morgan walks over and sits down next to her. “Are you okay?” she asks again.

“I don’t know,” Alex replies.

“I know that… it’s hard… because a lot of people… We did what we could.”

“Loki and Lumiera could have died on that ship… I let them get taken away from me… If we hadn’t got them back when we did…”

“But we got both of them back. That’s what matters. We all watch out for each other. If any of your Pokemon get taken, we’ll be sure to get them back. I know you’d do the same for us.”

“Thanks,” Alex tells her.

Morgan holds out the dusk stone again. “I think you’re really going to need this.”

As Alex reaches out for the stone, her arm passes under the light from Lumiera. Morgan realizes that this is the first time she has seen the girl’s bare forearms as she always wears gloves to cover them up. She notices decorative Sinai writing tattooed on Alex’s right arm, which takes her by surprise.

“When did you get that?” Morgan asks.

“Oh, um… about two years ago,” Alex tells her nervously.

“What does it mean?”

“It’s a reminder…” Alex trails off.

“A reminder of what?”

“I lived in a Sinai monastery for a few years… One of the monks there took me in when I was starving and alone…” She looks back at the tattoo. “It’s something he always used to tell me. I had this done to remind me not to give up…”

“What do you mean?”

“I… It’s because I’ve given up before… You asked me once if I’ve ever done anything I regret...”

“What are you-?” Morgan asks, not sure what Alex means.

The girl holds out both of her arms to Morgan and turns them over. In the dim light Morgan can see a faded, but obviously self-inflicted, pair of scars, one on each of Alex’s wrists. “That’s not the only way I tried either…” 

“I’m sorry,” Morgan tells her. “You know that we care about you a lot, right?”

“Mhm.”

“And we wouldn’t… we would… if you ever… if you ever want to talk to us about anything, it’s okay, alright?”

“Okay.”

* * *

After leaving Alex’s room, Morgan goes to the warp lab and watches Shane practice with his warp abilities. He starts by creating two spheres of warp from the warp drive. Shane then drops into warp space and slowly drags a tendril of warp from one to the other, thereby connecting the two. 

Back outside warp space, Shane tests the portal by throwing an empty Pokeball into one of the tiny warp spheres. The Pokeball travels through the connection and exits the other sphere, landing on the floor with a light clang. Shane attempts to repeat this test, trying to make a similar portal by extending a single sphere of warp into two, but finds the task too difficult with his current powers.

Finally, after a long silence, Morgan speaks up. “So… You don’t remember anything from before they found you, do you?” she asks Shane.

“No,” Shane tells her, only half paying attention as he continues to play around with the Warp. “No, I don’t.”

“So there might be someone out there… looking for you?”

“What exactly do you mean by that?”

“I don’t know… like a family or something.”

Shane just looks at her in confusion.

“I mean, they would be really worried about you, you know, but… it’s not like you could just go back. There are important things we have to do here.”

“Are you okay?” Shane asks, seeing the distress on Morgan’s face. The Warp fizzles out and dissipates as Shane turns his full attention to her.

“What if they don’t even care anymore? It’s not like they ever really cared.”

“This isn’t about me, is it?”

“I guess not.” Morgan pulls out her Pokedex and shows it to Shane. A video plays of a very distraught middle-aged woman who is crying and begging Morgan to come home. The time stamp on the video is only from several hours ago. 

“It seems like she cares but… she didn’t really care when I was there,” Morgan continues. “It’s just that here I feel like you guys really need me. I’ve never felt like that before. Sometimes I think I should call her...”

“Wait, you haven’t?” Shane asks.

“It would just… make everything worse. If she knew where I was, I’d never hear the end of it.”

“But still, at the very least, it seems she would like to hear that you’re okay.”

“I think I’d rather just watch you for a while.”

“Morgan, if you don’t do it now, you’re probably gonna put it off for quite a while. I should know about procrastination. I’m in here all the damn time, yet it was only just now that I’ve been able to actually achieve something interesting with the Warp. Usually, I’m just here, staring at it and hoping for something to happen. You actually have to take the initiative and do it yourself.”

Morgan looks torn. She glances nervously back and forth between Shane and her Pokedex for a minute before responding. “I… I don’t know if I can call,” she says with a sigh. “But I’ll let her know I’m alive, at least.” She scurries out of the room before Shane can respond.

* * *

The first stop the _Helix_ makes is the Outer Rim world of Ventos. Minerva sets the ship down in the rugged grasslands covering the planet and Morgan, Shane, H, and Alex set out to explore. 

They walk a good distance before coming to an old and twisted tree near a cave entrance. A Delphox sits calmly beneath the tree, gazing out into the rocky plains and a Charmander and a Drilbur lie relaxing inside the cave entrance. A Zigzagoon scampers past, searching the grass for food, catching Alex’s interest. She quickly releases her Meowstic and sends him after it. 

“Loki, use Psybeam!” she instructs the Pokemon. The Meowstic blasts the Zigzagoon with a beam of psychic energy, dazing the Pokemon for a brief moment. The Zigzagoon runs around in confusion before locking onto Loki and firing a bunch of spines at him. Only one actually hits the Mesostic, and simply bounces off. “And now to catch it…” Alex pulls out a custom Pokeball she made on the way to the planet and throws it at the Zigzagoon. The ball immediately falls still when it hits the ground.

Seeing this, the Delphox stands up and looks like it’s planning to attack. “C.A.L.I., use Psybeam,” Shane instructs his Inkay in response. The Pokemon fires a beam of energy at the Delphox, but it goes wide and misses the target. The Delphox then throws up a protective screen around itself and the other wild Pokemon like some sort of guardian.

“Herman, use Razor Shell on that Drilbur,” Morgan commands her Dewott. Herman rushes the mole Pokemon and slashes at it with his shell, knocking it out.

“I was planning on catching that,” H tells her.

“Sorry,” Morgan responds unapologetically.

H just shrugs and turns his attention to the Delphox. “#1, use Stomp!” he commands his Pokemon. The Rhyhorn charges at the fox Pokemon and kicks it with his foot. H then follows up his Pokemon’s attack by firing an electric shock wave at the Delphox.

Shane then pulls out a Great Ball and throws it at the Delphox. The ball makes contact and pulls the Pokemon inside. It falls to the ground and begins to shake. Eventually it settles down and the Pokemon is caught. With the Delphox out of the way, Shane and Alex run over to collect their new captures.

“Loki, use Disarming Voice!” Alex commands her Meowstic after collecting the Pokemon she captured. Loki runs up the Charmander and screeches at it, doing a bit of damage to it. In response, the Charmander attempts to bite Loki with its fiery fangs, but the Meowstic quickly dodges out of the way.

“Herman, use Fury Cutter,” Morgan instructs her Dewott. The Pokemon slashes at the Charmander again and whittles it down a little further. Morgan then pulls out a Great Ball and throws it at the Pokemon while Shane recalls his Inkay and sends out his Amaura. The Charmander attempts to dodge out of the way of the incoming ball, but it makes contact with its tail and pulls it inside. The ball shakes a few times, then the Charmander busts out.

The crew continues to beat up on the Charmander, then Shane has his Amaura immobilize the Pokemon with Thunder Wave. Morgan then pulls out her last ball and throws it at the Pokemon. This time she is successful and captures the Charmander.

Deciding there is not much left to see on Ventos, the crew heads back to the _Helix_ , then the ship heads off toward its next destination.

* * *

The next planet the _Helix_ visits is the Federation world Märchenwald, an uninhabited planet known for its thick and mysterious forests. Minerva sets the ship down in a large clearing and the crew heads out into the dense woods for more exploration.

After walking through the forest for a while, the crew hears a rustling sound. Alex runs ahead to check it out and finds herself in an open clearing. A Venusaur lies sleeping against a strange looking rock with a face carved into it in the center of the clearing. A Togetic frantically flaps around in the air. Alex pulls out a Pokeball and releases her Meowstic as the other start to catch up.

“Loki, use Psychic!” Alex instructs her Pokemon. The Meowstic fires a powerful blast of psychic energy a the Venusaur and wakes it up. The large Pokemon stands up and roars, looking quite angry. It charges at Loki, but the Meowstic dodges out of the way. Alex notices the face on the rock appears to shift to a frown. Seeing the Venusaur wake up, the Togetic begins flapping more frantically and attempts to put it back to sleep.

Sensing something off with this place, Morgan moves in and prepares to attack the Venusaur with her psychic abilities. “No!” Alex shouts as Morgan fires off a blast of energy. She quickly pulls out a Pokeball and throws it at the Venusaur. The ball pulls the Pokemon inside, saving it from the attack. It shakes a couple times, then falls still.

Suddenly, the rock starts glowing brightly and the Togetic starts getting even more frantic. The face on the rock shifts once again to a face of rage. “Guys, we should leave,” Morgan says to her crewmates. “That rock is alive!” A ghostly face rises up from the rock, revealing itself to be a Spiritomb.

“Loki, use Light Screen!” Alex shouts to her Meowstic in response. The Pokemon throws up a protective barrier around himself and the others.

Once again seeing the face, Morgan orders her new Charmander to attack. “Blaise, use Fire Fang!” The Charmander rushes at the Spiritomb and takes a nasty bite out of it, leaving the ghostly Pokemon dazed and burned.

The panicked Togetic looks at Loki and fires a ball of shadowy energy at the Meowstic, seemingly blaming the Pokemon for angering the Spiritomb. The attack makes contact, but Loki’s barrier dampens the damage.

“K.E.Y.S., use Flash Cannon!” Shane commands his Klefki as he points at the Togetic. The Pokemon fires a blast of bright light at the Togetic and delivers a pretty nasty blow to the Pokemon. H then pulls out a Pokeball and loads it into his Pokeball cannon. He takes aim at the Togetic and fires. The ball slams into the Togetic and pulls it inside. The ball shakes only once before the Togetic bursts out of it. Shane then pulls out a Dusk Ball and throws it at the Spiritomb. Unfortunately, his throw goes wide and he completely misses the Pokemon.

“Loki, use Disarming Voice!” Alex commands her Meowstic. The Pokemon runs up to the panicked Togetic and screeches at it, but it doesn’t really seem to do anything.

“Blaise, use Toxic!” Morgan instructs her recently caught Charmander. The Pokemon spits a blast of toxic ooze at the Togetic and poisons it. The Togetic responds by firing a blast of rocks at the Charmander.

“#1, use Chip Away!” H commands his Pokemon. The Rhyhorn charges at the Togetic and slams into it, dealing a very powerful blow.

Shane and H both attempt their captures again and, this time, both of them are successful. The crewmembers run over to collect their new captures, then they all head back to the ship.

* * *

The final planet the _Helix_ visits before their meeting with Mr. Silver is the heavily urban Federation world Nerva in the neighboring system to Märchenwald. Nerva is a cold, snowy marsh world but, despite the harsh climate, several large metropolises cover the planet’s surface. Minerva docks the ship in a spaceport in one such city and the crew heads out to do some shopping and look for more Pokemon.

The crew wanders through the city and eventually ends up in a marshy park where they can look for Pokemon. They wander through the park and eventually come across a Smoochum and a Snorunt playing with each other and a Quagsire relaxing in a nearby pond.

Alex quickly captures the Snorunt and then hangs back to watch the others battle the remaining Pokemon. The fight doesn’t last very long and Morgan easily captures the Smoochum while Shane knocks out the Quagsire.

After the battle the crew travels to the nearest shopping center. H buys some supplies for his lab and also purchases a shiny stone which he uses to evolve his newly caught Togetic into a Togekiss. Alex also buys a dawn stone off of Morgan and uses it to evolve her newly caught Snorunt into a Froslass.

The crew then stops by Nerva’s Wonder Trade Center. Morgan trades away her Grovyle and receives a Stunky. Dmitri trades away his Slugma and receives a Murkrow. H, with the assistance of Shane, trades away both his Beedrill and his Numel and receives a Bidoof and a Marill in return. Before heading back to the ship, the crew makes on last stop to look for a move tutor to teach some of their Pokemon some better moves. The move tutor, known as Diane Stone, impresses the crew with her skill, and they decide to hire her on full time aboard the _Helix_.

Once back aboard, the crew sets a course back to the Outer Rim. 

To Mr. Silver.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dmitri’s player was at Anime Boston the weekend of this session and wasn’t able to make it so we had another “filler” session. H’s player was also late this week so he missed out on some of the opening RP.
> 
> Obviously, the first thing we had to do was contact the Helix and let them know we were still alive. After all that went down, I’m sure they were wondering what happened to us.
> 
> The scene between Arlon and Rena didn’t actually happen in game but it was something I felt I should add since it was kind of important to giving him some character development, especially since Seeing Red didn't exist at the time. He and Rena are definitely a thing if that wasn’t obvious. It had actually come up once back in Volume 1. Dmitri's player had asked if they had history after the Garth interrogation in session 11 and I was just like “probably.” I ran with that idea and made them a thing in Arlon's origin story, and worked it being rekindled into the main story.
> 
> H’s player arrived while we were studying the cyber-weapon and making a plan on how to use it. For you computer science people reading, the GM basically said that the weapon essentially uses some ancient technology bullshit to make P=NP true and break all encryption, which I thought was kind of funny.
> 
> The real important RP this session, or at least I think so, were the scenes between Morgan and Alex, and Morgan and Shane. Both scenes gave us a good insight into Alex and Morgan’s backstories respectively. I’d mentioned several times that Alex has a pretty dark backstory, but I wasn't even close to having started it at this point, so this was the other player's first real glimpse at some of the darker aspects of Alex's past, in this case her numerous suicide attempts. Obviously she’s still here but this may change the others’ perceptions of her. I had been waiting for most of the volume to reveal this detail but I didn’t find the right moment until this session.
> 
> Now on to Pokemon catching! We just went to a bunch of randomly generated planets to fill out the session and catch some Pokemon and earn some EXP along the way! I’m glad to have caught some Pokemon within the level range of my main team. I didn't want to lose any Pokemon, but it was still good to know that in the event I did lose one I would have something I wouldn't need to train up. A funny thing happened on the second planet. How we usually do wild Pokemon searches is that we all roll a d20 and then whoever gets the highest gets to roll the d100 to determine what we find. I rolled the highest, but the other three each rolled a 6. Rolling 666 just before a fight with a Spiritomb just seems fitting.


	62. Meanwhile..., Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The fallout from the destruction of the Halcyon forces Morgan to confront her past.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was the second (and so far final) piece Morgan's player wrote up about her character. I have uploaded it here with her permission.

Morgan sat in her room, staring at the bright, blank white screen of her Pokedex. Shane was right, of course; if she didn't contact home now, it would almost certainly be a long time before she had the chance again, and as much as she tried not to think about it, there was always the possibility they might not survive their encounter with Mr. Silver. There was no way she was going to call, but she'd promised Shane she'd do something, so here she was, trying to compose a message. There was nothing to say. Actually, there was too much to say, but only one word came readily to mind.

Mom.

It was a start.

Mom,

I'm okay, but I can't come home yet. I'm sorry. Please don't call me.

Love,

Morgan

Love. She wrote the word with extreme distaste, but how else was she supposed to end a letter to her mother? Besides, nothing that had happened was really her mother's fault. She was so old-fashioned it was no surprise she'd never stood up to her husband. Morgan wasn't even sure her mother understood what the problem was. All she'd ever tell Morgan was to work hard, that one day she'd make an excellent engineer. She never realized how hard it was for Morgan to live in that house, with that man who hated her, whom she hated to call father. "Your father loves you," her mother would say. "He just has a strange way of showing it sometimes. But we both want you to succeed." Morgan could feel herself getting angry again, and she quickly hit the send button before she knew she would lose the will to.

Almost immediately, her Pokedex rang; it was a call from Parisia. I should have known. She never listens to anything I say. Of course she didn't answer the call, and after a minute, it began recording a message, with the video feed still playing on the screen.

"Morgan! Morgan, oh my God!" Her mother was crying, looking both relieved and frantic. "Please, answer me, I need to talk to you, oh my God you're alive!" This continued for several minutes, with her mother gradually becoming more incoherent, but still begging Morgan to respond. Morgan was about to terminate the message - after all, it wasn't like her mother didn't already know she was there - but before she could, she heard the sound of someone opening the door on the video.

"Arianna, it's late, you-" The voice was distant, but there was no mistaking it.

"Orion! Orion, it's Morgan!" Her mother paused expectantly, staring at someone off-screen, her cheeks glistening with tears. There was an uncomfortable silence, and someone clearing his throat. Then Orion Durand stepped into view of the camera.

He looked more disheveled than Morgan had ever seen him in her life. It wasn't only that he had recently woken up, though he was only wearing a nightshirt and boxers, which he had obviously made a very hasty effort to smooth with his hands. No, he also looked exhausted. The skin under his eyes was baggy and sunken, and though he he was trying to hide it, there was an unusual slouch to his posture. He stared at the screen with a grim expression, but seemed surprised when he didn't see Morgan's face.

"Arianna… You're leaving a message."

"She's there, Orion! She just wrote to me!"

Her father's eyes flickered across the screen. It was clear the message Morgan had sent was still up. He put his hands on Arianna's shoulder. "She said not to call her. You should come to bed. You've been here all day."

"I know she's watching! She has to be there!"

"Arianna, please. Come, now…" He tried to pull her into a standing position, but she pushed him away.

"Aren't you going to say anything?!" She began sobbing heavily again. "She… She's our daughter!"

Orion suddenly looked very contrite. To Morgan, this was extremely surprising. Her father never regretted anything. "I… Morgan, you need to come home. It's too dangerous for you out there." It was exactly like him to say something like that. An insult, veiled as concern. But there was something in his voice this time that almost made her believe he really was concerned. Her father turned back to her mother. "Won't you please come upstairs now?" Arianna merely sobbed and fell into her husband's arms. Then, the transmission ended.


	63. Seeing Red, Part 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Red Suns run a mission to capture a Romanov ship.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As with the last part of Seeing Red, this piece was written during Volume 3, but it falls in the timeline concurrently with the events of the end part of Volume 2, so that is where it has been inserted in the series. It's specific position in the timeline falls in the week between the Galactic Governance Conference and the date the Red Suns and the Helix crew set to meet with Mr. Silver.

Arlon stood on the bridge of the _Corsair_ , looking out the viewport at his new fleet assembled just outside the Sector 27 warp gate. Weeks upon weeks of preparations had lead to this: a motley assortment of buckets and frigates of both civilian and military make. Alliance, Genevan, and Romanov. The Red Suns’ leader was actually quite impressed by how quickly it had been accomplished. A fleet of twenty or so vessels built from a mere handful all in less than a month. Now it was finally time to put them to use.

Arlon turned from the viewport and strode off the bridge. He crossed the corridor and stepped into the war room on the other end. Everyone else was already gathered around the holotable. They made room as their leader passed, allowing him to walk right up to it.

“Today, we stand ready to take on our toughest mission yet,” Arlon declared. He pressed a button on the holotable and the image of a Romanov Supremacy Broadsword class heavy cruiser flanked by several standard Supremacy cruisers sprang up. “I know many of you had friends and family who died during the Romanov invasion. Now it’s our turn to get a little payback.”

“So, what are we looking at here, boss?” Luke asked.

“This,” Arlon answered. He pressed another button, and the hologram focused in on the Broadsword. “Is the _RSS Pročnost’_. She’s a Broadsword class heavy cruiser, better known to us as the Supremacy’s infamous ramming ships, and she’s our target.”

“Target for what, exactly?” Petra asked.

“We’re going to capture her,” Arlon explained.

“That is not easy task,” Kiril observed. “What is purpose of this?”

“We’ve been asked by my contact in the Federation,” the Red Suns' leader informed his crew. “The Federation has their hands full fighting against the Supremacy. That’s where we come in. The _Pročnost’_ is currently in Sector 10 in the Confederacy, and is believed to be carrying intel that could give the Federation the upper hand in this war. The Supremacy may have Sector 9 on lockdown, but the bastards don’t have control over Sector 10 yet. While Federation forces keep the Supremacists busy, we’re going to slip in and capture the _Pročnost’_ before they even know what hit ‘em.”

“You make it sound easy, but capturing a ship like that is still no laughing matter,” Petra commented.

“That’s why we’re bringing the whole bloody fleet,” Arlon responded, a slight grin forming on his lips. “Our ships keep the other cruisers distracted, while the _Corsair_ swoops in and deploys one of our boarding craft. A small team of five will infiltrate the _Pročnost’_ , then disable the life support systems and open every Goddamn airlock. Thanks to the EVA combat armor that Luke acquired, we will be perfectly fine while the Supremacists get sucked out into space. After that, taking the bridge will be a piece of cake.”

“Zat… is a very risky plan,” Rena observed. “I like it. Who will be on ze infiltration team?”

“We’ll need our best fighters. We are limited to only five, so I had to choose wisely. The infiltration team will consist of myself, Rena, Luke, Kiril, and Matthias.” Arlon turned his gaze to his tech expert. “You’re key to this operation, mate. We get you to the control room…” Arlon pressed another button, and the hologram of the _Pročnost’_ zoomed in further, lighting up the location of the ship’s control room. “Then you hack in and take over their systems.”

“That I can do, my friend,” Matthias said with a hint of excitement. 

“Meanwhile…” Arlon continued, looking over to his final lieutenant. “Petra, you will be in charge of overseeing the fleet.”

“Got it,” the former bounty hunter acknowledged. “I’ll try not to break your new toys,” she added with a laugh.

“I would certainly hope so,” Arlon responded. “Everyone know their role?”

“You know it, boss,” Luke answered for everyone.

“Excellent. It’s time to get this show on the road.” Arlon pressed a button on the holotable and activated the fleet-wide comms. “All ships, prepare to jump!”

* * *

As the _Corsair_ flew through warp space, edging ever closer to its destination, Rena wandered the frigate’s corridors. She, like many of her fellow Genevans amongst the ranks of the Red Suns, was quite troubled by the Romanov Supremacy's invasion of the Confederacy. With the majority of the Confederacy's leaders now dead at the hands of Heilovic, the Supremacy had been able to move in and take over without much resistance. Now it was just one more problem for the Red Suns to worry about.

 _As if Arlon doesn’t ‘ave enough on ‘is plate already_ , Rena thought. She was worried about him. Ever since he returned to the Red Suns, she had seen him push himself harder than ever before, and now, with all that was going on, she was afraid that he was pushing himself _too_ hard.

Snapping back to the present moment, Rena found herself standing just outside of Arlon’s private quarters and realized that she had subconsciously wandered there. She sighed, then knocked on the door.

“Come in,” Arlon answered.

Rena pressed the button on the console, and the door slid open. She stepped inside to see Arlon sitting on the bed scrolling through a bunch of data on his Pokedex. The Red Suns’ leader looked up as Rena entered. “What’s up?” he asked.

“I wanted to talk to you… If you ‘ave the time,” Rena told him.

“Yeah, of course,” Arlon replied, putting his Pokedex away. “What’s on your mind?”

“Arlon… I… Well, you ‘ave been under a lot of stress lately and I wanted to make sure you were alright.”

“Yeah, I’m alright,” Arlon answered. He stood up and took a step closer. “But thanks for asking. Maybe once we strike against Mr. Silver, we’ll finally have some bloody peace and quiet around here.”

“I would certainly ‘ope so,” Rena laughed. “I was thinking, zough… ‘ave you thought about what ‘appens afterwards?” She reached out a placed her hand on Arlon’s arm. “About _us?_ ”

“Course I have,” Arlon told her as he placed a hand on her shoulder. “Our future is important to me… but Mr. Silver is our priority right now. He _has_ to be stopped.”

“I know, but I was thinking zat once we defeat ‘im… maybe we could settle down somewhere? You know, start a real life together? No more of zis running around ze Galaxy.”

“I think I’d like that,” Arlon agreed as he moved his hand up to Rena’s cheek. “I’ll tell you what, once Mr. Silver is history, we’ll make sure the Red Suns are in good shape, and then we’ll walk away. We’ll find that nice place you always wanted to go… just the two of us.”

Rena smiled as she looked up at Arlon. “I’ll ‘old you to zat.” She put her arms behind his neck and pulled him into a kiss. The two slowly moved toward the bed as they embraced.

* * *

Silence hung in the air of the _Corsair_ ’s armory as the infiltration team geared up, save for the sounds of shifting equipment. Arlon gazed around at his fellow Red Suns as he fastened the final bit of his armor in place. Their faces remained stoic as they checked their weapons and Pokeballs. The grim reality of the war with the Supremacy had soaked in over the past few days. They were going to be heavily outnumbered and outgunned, but they all knew the risks.

Fully armored up, Arlon strapped his belt on. The Red Suns’ leader then pulled out his pistols and made sure they were fully charged and ready to go. He had already checked them half a dozen times, but he couldn’t take any chances on this mission. One misfire, and the whole team could end up dead.

Once he was satisfied, Arlon holstered the guns, then walked over to the rack of heavy weapons lining the wall. They were going to need them. “Everyone, grab as many warp cannons as you can carry,” he ordered the team.

“What for, boss?” Luke asked as he slung his rifle over his shoulder. “Wouldn’t incendiary cannons be more useful?”

“For the Knight Commandos, mate,” Arlon told him. “We fought two of them on the _Halcyon_ and it was almost too much. Their armor and shields are practically impenetrable and they tore through our Pokemon like they were made of paper. The only way we beat the rest of them was with a bloody insane plan and luck.”

“So, why warp cannons?”

“I saw a single Inkay take one down in one shot with a warp blast,” Arlon recounted the moment Shane’s Pokemon overloaded one of the Commando’s shield systems.

“Warp cannons function very similarly,” Matthias observed. “That stuff seriously messes with any kind of technology. Believe me, I know.”

“Precisely, mate,” Arlon agreed. “It’s an edge we desperately need if we want to have any chance of survival.”

“Da!” Kiril agreed as he picked up several warp cannons. “I’ll be sure to bring plenty! The Supremacists won’t know what hit them.”

“No, zey won’t,” Rena agreed as she stared down the sights of her sniper rifle. She had more reason to hate the Supremacists than most. Many of her family members were killed during the invasion of the Confederacy's core system.

“We’ll be sure to give ‘em hell,” Arlon agreed with his crew. “Now, we’ll be arriving shortly. Be at the boarding craft in five.”

* * *

As soon as the _Corsair_ dropped out of warp space, the Red Suns’ ship was immediately hailed by their target. Matt glanced over at Petra seated in the co-pilot’s seat for direction. The lieutenant nodded, signalling Matt to answer. The pilot opened the channel, and a Supremacist officer appeared on the viewscreen.

“Attention unidentified vessel,” the officer said. “You have entered restricted space. By order of the Romanov Supremacy, you must turn back at once.”

“That’s funny,” Matt retorted. “Last I checked, this was a Genevan sector. Ya know what? I think we’ll _stay_.”

“Turn back now, or you will be fired upon.”

“Nah. How about you go fuck yourself instead?” Matt closed the channel just as the remainder of the fleet dropped out of warp space behind the _Corsair_.

Petra reached for the console and opened up the fleet-wide channel. “All ships, form up,” she commanded over the comms. “Charge weapons and focus on those cruisers. Keep them occupied while we deliver the ‘package.’”

As the mercenary fleet approached, the Supremacist squadron tightened formation around the _Pročnost’_. A Broadsword was much more useful against larger ships, so it wasn’t going to be much use against a fleet of smaller, much more maneuverable ships. However, the six cruisers were outnumbered nearly four-to-one.

Once the two groups of ships were within range, lasers, rockets, and energy blasts began flying. “Prepare for a bumpy ride!” Matt announced over the _Corsair_ ’s comms as he rocketed the frigate forward. Enemy fire began bombarding the vessel as it flew past the line of cruisers, straight for the Pročnost’.

* * *

“One minute till launch!” Petra’s voice sounded over the comms as the infiltration team climbed aboard their boarding craft.

“Alright you lot, the time has come to kick some Supremacist ass!” Arlon declared as he sealed the door behind him. “Who’s with me?!”

“Da!” Kiril called back. “I will show them how _true_ Romanov does battle!”

“That’s what I like to hear! We’re taking this Goddamn ship even if we have to fight down to the last bloody man! All of you, stay vigilant and be prepared for anything!”

“You got it boss!” Luke shouted in response.

“Thirty seconds!”

The Red Suns’ leader slid his helmet's faceplate in place and grabbed onto the support rail on the ceiling. “Make it through this one alive, and drinks are on me!”

“I will ‘old you to zat!” Rena responded.

“Prepare to launch in five… four…. three… two… one… **_Launch!_** ” The boarding craft lurched forward as Petra spoke the final word. “Good luck out there.”

The Red Suns braced themselves as they rapidly approached the target. As the moments crawled by at a Slowpoke’s pace, the mercenaries gripped their weapons in anticipation.

Just as it was beginning to seem that the moment would never come, there was a loud clang, and the whole craft rattled violently as it lurched to a stop. It was immediately followed by a contained explosion as the door blasted open.

Arlon pulled out a pistol and a Pokeball as he charged out of the boarding craft. “ _Move! Move! Move!_ ”

* * *

Arlon fired off a flurry of shots with his pistols down the corridor, sending the Supremacist soldiers diving behind the support beams. From the safety of  cover, the Supremacists ordered their Bisharps to advance as they returned fire. One of the Pokemon took a swipe at Arlon with its wrist-blade, but the nimble mercenary leaped backwards just in time. 

“Jiraiya, Night Slash! Cinder, Lava Plume!” Arlon commanded his Pokemon. His Greninja sprang forward, right over the Bisharps, then took a swipe at their trainers, taking two of the soldiers down. Meanwhile, Arlon’s Typhlosion charged right into the advancing Pokemon and unleashed a massive burst of flames from her back. The blast knocked the Bisharps back into the walls.

As more soldiers rounded the corner at the end of the passageway, they walked right into Rena’s sights. The Parisian sniper fired off a burst of perfectly aimed shots, laying three Supremacists out. “Ballerine, use Moonblast!” she then commanded her Pokemon. Her Gardevoir gracefully moved forward and blasted one of the injured Bisharps with a surge of energy, knocking it out.

“Matthias! How’s that door coming!?" Arlon shouted to the team’s hacker.

“The lock is really advanced!” Matthias shouted back. “I need another minute!” The Athínian hacker was confident he could crack this lock, but he just needed more time. “Cipher, give me a little hand here,” he called out to his Porygon-Z. The digital Pokemon floated over and interfaced with the console, narrowly avoiding taking a hit from the incoming laser fire from the rear.

“I’ve got you covered!” Luke shouted as he turned to face the squad of soldiers moving in to flank them. The Alliance merc fired off a few controlled bursts of fire, taking down several Supremacists. “Sobek, you’re up!” he then shouted to his Feraligatr. “Use Aqua Tail!” The reptilian Pokemon charged forward and bashed the remaining soldiers into the wall with his powerful tail.

Once Luke’s Pokemon was out of range, Kiril unleashed a wave of fire from his flamethrower, roasting the wounded soldiers alive in their armor. “Ha ha!” the Romanov laughed triumphantly. He then turned his attention to the larger force advancing from the other end of the corridor. “Otrava, Gyro Ball!” Kiril commanded his Weezing. The Poison Gas Pokemon floated over, and rammed into a group of Supremacists, knocking one right to the floor.

“On your feet, soldiers!” a booming voice rang out. “Show this scum true Romanov power!” A lone Knight Commando strode down the corridor, brandishing his Aegislash. The Supremacist soldiers rallied behind him as he advanced.

“We’ve prepared for this!” Arlon shouted to his team. “Hit him with a cannon, then focus fire!”

“My pleasure,” Kiril said as he took aim with one of his warp cannons. He locked onto the Knight Commando and pulled the trigger. A blast of warp energy flew across the hall and collided with the armored Romanov. The Commando blocked the shot with his Aegislash, but he was not prepared for the second blast from Luke. His armor began sparking violently, giving the Red Suns the opening they needed.

“Light him up!” Arlon shouted. “Jiraiya, use Water Shuriken! Cinder, use _Blast Burn!_ ” The water projectiles kept the Commando pinned down, leaving him defenseless as the flames roared down the hallway, knocking out his Pokemon and devastating the other soldiers. Just to make sure, the remaining Red Suns ordered their Pokemon to attack, finishing off the Commando and any remaining soldiers.

“ _Aaand_ , there’s the door!” Matthias shouted.

“Otrava, Smokescreen,” Kiril commanded his Weezing as the door slid open. The Pokemon began to release a steady stream of noxious smoke into the control room, covering the Red Suns as they moved in. A few quick bursts of fire later, and all the soldiers inside were dead.

“Matthias, you’re up again! Do your thing!” Arlon commanded.

Matthias ran to the main computer and jacked in with his Pokedex. “Alright, let’s see here,” he said as he began breaking into the Pročnost’s systems. “There’s life support. Let’s go ahead and shut _that_ off. Oh, and door controls. How about we open _everything?!_ Oh, and let’s not forget their airlocks either!”

The Red Suns watched on the security feeds as countless Supremacists were sucked out into space. Unfortunately, they spotted many soldiers, including several more Knight Commandos, that managed to fight off the vacuum pull. The bridge, however, seemed to be completely unharmed.

“They must be on a separate system,” Arlon guessed. “Matthias, can you do something about that?”

“Not from here, I’m afraid,” the hacker answered. “The good news is I’ve loaded up their systems with all sorts of bots. They won’t be getting them back online anytime soon, and they certainly won’t be going anywhere.”

“Nice work, mate,” Arlon responded. “Everyone, activate your suits' life support systems and switch to Pokemon that don’t need air. We’re headed for the bridge!”

* * *

The _Corsair_ rumbled as it was battered by the advanced weaponry of the Supremacist ships. “Open fire!” Petra yelled to the gunners as Matt dove the ship in for another pass on one of the heavy cruisers. The ion cannons popped the cruiser’s shields, allowing the plasma beam to slice through the hull.

“It’s shields are down!” Petra broadcasted across the fleet. “Now’s your chance!” The surrounding ships unleashed a tide of lasers and rockets at the heavy cruiser. Explosions rippled along the ship as it was bombarded. Matt pulled the _Corsair_ away from the cruiser as it was reduced to rubble.

“That’s three!” Matt shouted in excitement. The battle was intense, and the Red Suns had lost many ships, but they had strength in numbers. Aside from the Broadsword, only half the Supremacist ships remained.

Matt rolled the _Corsair_ as the nearest cruiser fired another salvo from its cannons. The Red Suns’ flagship slipped between the blasts, but several of the nearby mercenary vessels were decimated. “We are losing too many ships!” one of the pilots shouted over the comms.

“Stay calm!” Petra replied. “The odds are still in our favor! Form up on the middle cruiser! It’s preparing to fire! Don’t let it get those shots off!”

Matt pushed the _Corsair_ forward, and aimed for the cruiser’s underbelly. “All guns front!” Petra commanded the gunners. A line of fire erupted along the bottom of the cruiser as the _Corsair_ strafed past. Just before the Supremacist ship exploded, it fired off another volley of rounds taking down two more mercenary vessels instantly, and damaging several others.

“Our engines are going critical!” one of the damaged ships’ pilot declared over the comms.

“Alkaev, what the hell are you doing?!” Petra responded as she watched the ship begin to accelerate toward one of the two remaining cruisers.

“We are dead anyway, comrade,” the pilot responded calmly. “We will not go without fight.” The ship opened fire upon the enemy cruiser, breaking a hole in its shields. The mercenary frigate flew full speed through the opening and smashed into the cruiser, destroying both vessels in a massive explosion.

“I guess that’s one way to take down a cruiser!” Matt commented as he narrowly maneuvered the _Corsair_ away from a salvo from the remaining cruiser.

“All ships, focus fire on that last cruiser!” Petra commanded the fleet. The remainder of the Red Suns’ ships fired upon the final ship with every weapon at their disposal, quickly tearing through its shields.

“ _Woooo!_ ” Matt cheered as he flew the Corsair in close. The frigate’s plasma beam cut straight through to the cruiser’s engines, delivering the final blow.

* * *

Bodies flew in all directions as Arlon’s Golem and Kiril’s two Electrodes bowled through the opposing soldiers. Arlon strode forward, firing off his pistols as fast as he could at the Supremacists before they hit the ground. “Hydra, Dragon Pulse!” Arlon commanded his Zweilous, advancing beside him. The dragon Pokemon fired off an energy pulse that took out another.

The other members of the team were close behind, firing with their own weapons. Rena aimed for the ones in the back, picking them off with her sniper rifle before they could even get in range.

“Nice shooting!” Luke complimented her as he fired off several bursts at the closer targets.

“And zey say sniper rifles are no good indoors!” Rena responded as she picked off a couple more soldiers. “Ordinateur, use Psychic!” she then commanded her Metagross. The metallic Pokemon released a burst of psychic energy down the corridor, blasting the advancing troops backwards.

“They clearly haven’t seen you in action!” Luke shouted back as the Red Suns moved up. “Kaiju, use Thrash!” Luke’s Tyranitar charged ahead and smashed through the Supremacists as they picked themselves up.

“Or they’re just idiots,” Matthias suggested. “Long range attacks are _perfect_ for these corridors. Cipher, use Zap Cannon!” the hacker commanded his Porygon-Z, as if to demonstrate. The Pokemon blasted a giant ball of electricity down the hallway, taking down one of the soldiers the Tyranitar had missed. “There. Now the path is clear.”

The Red Suns moved forward, through a set of blast doors into the ship’s hangar, right into a group of four Knight Commandos. “You just had to open big mouth, didn’t you?” Kiril jabbed at Matthias as he turned to look at the hacker.

“You know what to do!” Arlon shouted to his compatriots. Down to their last warp cannons, Kiril and Luke each fire off their final warp blasts at separate Knight Commandos, crippling their shields.

Rena then leaped onto her Metagross’s back, and the two floated up into the large open space they now found themselves in. As they rose, the sniper fired off as many shots as she could, aiming right for the weak points of the Commandos’ armor, taking both down. However, that still left two with their shields perfectly intact.

“Guess we’ll have to do this the hard way…” Arlon said to no one in particular. “Terra, use Rollout!” The ground rumbled as the mercenary’s Pokemon rolled forward toward the Commandos. One of the armored Romanovs raised the shield half of his Aegislash and deflected the hit. His armor whirred as the motorized joints pushed against the force of the Golem. The two Commandos then swiped at the Pokemon’s rocky hide with their swords, knocking her out. One then punted the injured Golem out of the way with a swift kick.

“Run for cover!” Kiril shouted to his comrades. “Sleva, Prava, Explosion!” The Red Suns quickly moved out of the way as the Romanov’s two explosive Pokemon rolled into position and detonated. When the smoke cleared, the Commandos were still standing, but their armor looked a little worse for wear.

“Keep it up!” Arlon shouted as he began unloading with his pistols. “We’ve done this before, we can do it again! Hydra, use Dark Pulse!” His draconic companion unleashed a blast of darkness at one of the Commandos, but the Romanov soldier deflected it with his Aegislash.

“Block this!” Matthias shouted in response. “Cipher, Lock-On and use Hyper Beam!” The hacker’s Porygon-Z flew forward and took aim at one of the Commandos. The brilliant beam of light it fired slipped right past his Aegislash as he attempted to block and burned a noticeable mark into his armor.

Before the Red Suns got the chance to follow up with more attacks, another squad of Supremacist soldiers moved in from behind. “Zhukov, let’s take care of these bastards,” Luke said as he tapped the large Romanov on the shoulder. “Kaiju, use Earthquake!” he then commanded his Pokemon. The Tyranitar charged right into the middle of the Supremacists and stomped his foot down, knocking them all to the ground. Luke and Kiril then moved in, and opened fire before they got a chance to pick themselves up.

Up in the air, Rena continued to use her Metagross as a mobile sniper platform. As the metallic Pokemon floated around, Rena fired off round after round at the Commandos. However, this didn’t seem to do much more than _annoy_ them. Without their shields disrupted, they were nearly indestructible.

The sniper was at least proving herself to be somewhat of a threat, because the Commandos both aimed their Aegislashes in her direction. The sword Pokemon glowed as they charged up energy and fired off super powerful beams! The blasts met their mark, knocking both Rena and her Metagross out.

“ _Rena!_ ” Arlon bellowed in dismay as he watched her fall. There was a very audible crack as she hit the ground. “Hydra, protect her!” the Red Suns’ leader fiercely commanded his Pokemon as the Commandos moved in for the kill.

The Zweilous charged forward and leaped into the way just in time. The Pokemon began to glow as both blades collided with her. Hydra roared with frightening intensity as she grew in size and sprouted another head. The newly evolved Hydreigon lunged at one of the Commandos at lightning speed. One head ripped the Aegislash from the soldier’s hand while the other two went in for the kill. Blood squirted out as Hydra’s teeth sank into the armor’s weak point at the neck.

“Oh no you don’t,” Matthias said as he saw the remaining Commando raising his sword to strike the Hydreigon. He whipped out his Pokedex, and remotely hacked into the Romanov’s armor systems. “Get him while he’s vulnerable!” the hacker shouted as the Knight Commando’s shields began to short out.

“Arlon!” Kiril shouted as he tossed a grenade to the Red Suns’ leader. Arlon grabbed the grenade out of the air, then leaped at the Commando from behind. He jammed the explosive into a crevice in the armor, then sprang backwards just as it detonated. The Commando fell to the floor, a chunk of his body completely blown away.

Arlon picked himself back up and wasted no time in running to Rena’s side. “Please… no…” the mercenary breathed out.

“She’s still alive!” Matthias exclaimed after quickly running a scan with his Pokedex. “But we need to get her out of here now!”

“Matt, get the _Corsair_ here _right now!_ ” Arlon ordered over his commlink. “Rena’s been hurt and she needs medical attention now!”

“On my way, boss!”

* * *

“I’m not gonna ask you again,” Arlon snarled menacingly at the _Pročnost_ ’s commanding officer, his gun pointed right between the man’s eyes. “ _Where is the data?_ ” 

The Romanov commander stared back just as fiercely. “I do not know what you are talking about, you Outer Rim scum.”

With the cruisers eliminated and the majority of the _Pročnost_ ’s crew dead, taking the bridge had been easy. Now the Red Suns floated through warp space on their new Broadsword while Arlon interrogated the surviving command crew. He had them all on their knees, with dozens of guns trained on them

“Don’t play dumb with me, mate,” Arlon told the commander. “Tell me where the data is, or I _will_ shoot you.”

“You can’t shoot me,” the commander laughed. “Shoot me, and you get nothing.”

“You’re right, mate,” Arlon agreed. “I can’t kill you.” The mercenary pointed his gun at one of the other officers and pulled the trigger. Several other officers winced as the body hit the floor, but the commander’s face remained emotionless. “Tell me what I want to know or I’ll kill another one of your men.”

“Go ahead,” the commander replied.

Without hesitation, Arlon aimed his gun at another Supremacist officer and fired. “ _Nyet!_ ” the officer next to him gasped as blood splattered into his face. “He had wife! Children!”

“Shut up, you Supremacist dog!” Arlon shouted as he cracked the man on the head with the butt of his pistol, playing him out on the floor. “How many wives and children died because of _you?!_ On the _Halcyon_! On Parisia! On Albion!” He picked the man off the floor and shoved his gun into his mouth. “I should kill every last one of you!”

“ _Stop!_ ” the commander shouted. “I will tell you what you want to know.”

“That wasn’t so hard, now was it?” Arlon asked as he dropped the officer back to the floor. He walked back over to the commander.

“The data is on hard drive in my pocket,” the commander explained. Arlon reached in and pulled out a small hard drive.

“Matthias,” Arlon said as he tossed the drive.

The hacker caught it, then plugged it into his Pokedex. “It’s there. Unencrypted, even.”

“Now, you will let my men live?” the commander asked.

“I never said that, mate,” Arlon answered. The Red Suns leader turned his attention toward his own men standing behind the _Pročnost_ ’s crew. “ _Kill them all_ ,” he ordered before storming off the bridge. The sound of laser fire echoed down the corridor after him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Action! Action everywhere! This one was a nice little something I had planned out when I first conceived this series. I had about a week in the Spacemon timeline between Chapter 25 and Chapter 26 of Volume 2 and I was just like “I’ma cram an op where they capture a Broadsword and Arlon is a hardcore motherfucker.” And that’s what I did.
> 
> A lot of thought went into the breakdown of the scenes. I knew I wanted fleet combat to show off the Red Suns’ new fleet, and I wanted Knight Commandos and explosions and awesomeness! I really went into it with the mentality of “if I were the Red Suns, how would I plan this op.” I knew there would have to be Knight Commandos on a Supremacist ship, but I also knew that Arlon would be prepared for that after the grueling battle he, Rena, and Kiril had against them in Volume 2, Chapter 23. Enter the warp cannons, which the GM said function like the move Topsy-Turvy which reverses combat stages, negating the Knight Commandos’ effectiveness. That’s how Shane’s Inkay messed one of them up really good in Volume 2, Chapter 24. So they blew through many Commandos that way, but I also wanted to remind readers how badass the Commandos are, so I had them run out of warp cannons!
> 
> I also wanted to start pushing Arlon and Rena’s romantic relationship forward. I showed what their relationship was like back in Arlon’s origin story, but after Arlon being framed and presumed dead and all that, it did take some time for them to put things back together. I showed it a bit in the scene I added in Volume 2, Chapter 25, but I really wanted to show that they were really together here. And having that moment where Arlon went hardcore to protect her later on was important. It also gave me a kickass way for Arlon’s Zweilous evolve into a badass Hydreigon.
> 
> The final scene was actually the first scene I planned for this part. I knew I wanted to show Arlon moving closer toward the ruthlessness of Devlin Garth, slowly becoming what he hates in order to achieve his goals. He’s pissed off about the Romanov invasion of his homeland and that thirst for revenge is clouding his judgement. It’s just a really great character arc for him, I think.


	64. Volume 2, Chapter 26: I Am Mr. Silver

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Helix crew and the Red Suns confront Mr. Silver and learn the truth.

Silence permeates through the empty corridors of the _UAS Helix_ as the ship moves through warp space toward its destination. The crew steels themselves as they make their preparations to confront Mr. Silver. The time has come to break the enigma of the screen-face.

In the warp lab, Shane sorts through his gear and comes across the strange, dubious looking disk he found when the crew had fought Kiril Zhukov on Banton. _I forgot about this_ , he thinks as he turns the disk over in his hands.

He loads the disk up on the computer and takes a look. The code on the disk seems to be related to Porygon somehow so he releases D.A.T.A. and sends the Porygon2 inside to interact with it. Shane then installs the software onto his Pokemon, transforming it into a Porygon-Z.

After spending a bit of time testing out his newly evolved Pokemon’s abilities, Shane once again begins practicing with the Warp, hoping to find a way to make his warp portal idea work. He drops into warp space and tries splitting the warp sphere in half again, but this attempt is just as unsuccessful as the last. Frustrated, he gazes off into the empty Warp, and notices the line from the Mirror, which is odd, considering its considerable distance away.

“Huh,” Shane says. “Relative distance apparently doesn’t exist here.”

He returns his attention to the warp sphere, and instead of extending it to a specific point, he attempts to drag that point to the sphere of warp. It still takes effort, but _seems_ to have been successful. Shane drops out of warp to inspect the result.

As he drops himself back out of warp space, Shane sees Morgan intensely investigating the spot where he had been standing moments ago. “Shane, do you… see this?” Morgan asks him when she notices him.

“See what?” Shane asks, confused by what she is talking about.

“This,” Morgan says again, this time pointing to the spot that she had been investigating.

“I’m not seeing anything.”

“Are you sure? I think _you_ did this.”

“Yeah… I’m really not seeing anything. Are you okay?”

“Can you just warp over there for a second?” Morgan asks him, pointing to the far side of the room. Shane complies and sees her investigating where he had been standing once again. “It’s some sort of very fine powder. Like dust, but… it’s warm, and glows purple.”

“What is it?” Shane asks as he walks back over to Morgan.

“It has to be some sort of remnant of your power. Hold on, let’s test this. I’m going to leave, and, while I’m out, I want you to warp to a few locations around the ship that I can’t see, but I want you to remember where you were.”

“That might take a while,” Shane tells her. “I can’t warp too often in a short time span.”

“That’s fine. Just let me know when you’re done.” Morgan steps out of the room, then Shane warps away.

Shane first warps to the sealed cryo lab, then to the cargo hold near the Gardener Sphere, and then returns once more to the warp lab after recuperating. He opens the door to get Morgan.

“Okay… I’ve done as you’ve asked. Is there anything else you need?”

“No, thank you. I’m going to see if I can find any more of that residue. I’ll be back soon.”

After Morgan leaves, Shane resumes trying to create a viable warp portal. Despite the new approach, there is still only one sphere of warp in the room. When it becomes obvious that it isn’t going to work, Shane shuts off the warp drive and then releases V.O.I.D. so that he can get some training in with the Cofagrigus before they arrive at Mr. Silver’s ship.

After training for a while, Shane hears the door slide open behind him. He turns to see Morgan standing in the doorway, looking quite pale. He quickly recalls V.O.I.D. upon seeing her, aware of her fear of the Cofagrigus. “You okay, Morgan?” he asks. “I guess it should be obvious, but it looks like you’ve seen a ghost.”

Morgan looks at him with an annoyed expression on her face, not amused by his terrible joke.

“Anyway, that’s beside the point,” Shane continues. “You wanted something?”

“I’m not crazy,” Morgan proclaims. “You went to the cargo bay, next to the Gardener Sphere, _and_ H’s cryo lab.” She seems to be quite proud of herself. “If he ever found out about that,” she adds jokingly. “You’re dead.”

“Alright, you’re three for three there,” Shane tells her. “But, for the record, I never really thought you were crazy in the first place.”

“I wasn’t so sure.”

“I would like to test this experiment further. From what you’ve seen of… whatever it is that I left at those two places, can you tell roughly which one I was at first?”

“No, but it may have just been too recent to tell the difference.”

“Fair enough.”

* * *

Alex sits in her room tinkering with a Great Ball. The scraps of the broken Pokeballs the crew had used over the past few days lie scattered across her work table. Lumiera floats above her head, the Lampent providing her with extra light. Working on Pokeballs is something that always helps her to relieve stress, and now is when she needs it the most. The events of the past few weeks, and all the senseless death, had left her feeling a bit shaken. As the _Helix_ draws nearer to the one who orchestrated the events aboard the _Halcyon_ , Alex can’t help but feel nervous.

With one last adjustment, something clicks and the button on the ball lights up for a moment. Alex sets the ball aside, and makes a mental note to return it to Morgan, as it had been hers before she failed to catch her Charmander the first time. She then picks up the last remaining ball and quickly fixes it up as it had only suffered mild damage. This one she tosses over to her pile of finished Pokeballs, as it had belonged to H and she had no desire to do anything nice for him.

With her work complete, she slides her chair back and stands up.“Thanks, Lumiera,” she says as she hugs her Lampent. She then walks over to her bag and fishes out the dusk stone that Arlon had left for her. The purplish stone seems to glow as Lumiera’s light passes through it.

“This is for you,” Alex says as she holds the stone out to her Pokemon. “That Arlon guy left it for us so that you can evolve.” Lumiera lets out a cute sound as she floats over to Alex’s hand. As the Pokemon approaches, she begins to glow even brighter, as does the stone.

When the light dies down, Alex sees the stone in her hand go dark. She looks up at her newly evolved Pokemon, and gives the Chandelure another hug. “Wow, you’re so pretty!” she she squeals. Seeing her Pokemon grow and evolve always fills Alex with such joy.

Eventually, she lets go of Lumiera, then picks up the ball she repaired for Morgan. The ghostly chandelier trails behind Alex as she exits her room and goes next door to give the ball back to Morgan.

* * *

Morgan sits in her room, quietly organizing her Pokemon and equipment for their meeting. Even with all the equipment she purchased, she still doesn’t feel prepared, but she’s not sure there’s anything that can make her feel comfortable about a meeting with Mr. Silver. She hears the door slide open and looks over to see Alex standing in the doorway, her newly evolved Chandelure floating over her head. “Oh, Alex. Do you, um… do you need something?”

Alex steps into the room and holds up a Great Ball. “This is yours,” she says to Morgan. “I, uh, fixed it for you.”

“Oh… thanks,” Morgan tells the girl as she takes the ball out of her hand. She smiles politely, unsure of what to say. She gets the sense that the ball really isn’t the reason why Alex is here. “Was that it, or did you need, um… was there something else?”

“Oh, yeah,” Alex says nervously. “I… I, uh, wanted to… I wanted to talk to you about… about the other day.”

“Yeah, yeah, of course. What, is something wrong, or...?”

“I, uh… I just don’t… I just don’t want you to think that I might… that I might do _that_ again.”

“Oh.” Morgan looks startled, and a bit sheepish.

“It was a long time ago.”

“I’m sorry. I, um, I… I didn’t mean to treat you differently. I just… I didn’t know what to say, you know? I’m sorry, I don’t... want this to change things. I understand, okay?”

“Okay… Thanks.”

Before Morgan can say anything else, Alex scampers out of the room with her ghostly companion floating along behind her.

* * *

The crew gathers on the bridge as the _Helix_ drops out of warp space in Outer Rim Sector 29. The frigate flies toward the large ship belonging to Mr. Silver. The ship hails the Helix and a man appears on the viewscreen. “Mr. Silver is expecting you,” he says, then transmits docking instructions.

“This isn’t creepy at all,” Minerva says as she flies the ship into the hangar. She pulls the _Helix_ in next to the already-docked _Corsair_ and sets the ship down. The crew steps off the _Helix_ where they are greeted by Arlon, Rena, and Kiril.

“I remember the last time we met like this,” Shane says with a slight chuckle.

“I believe I was standing over there,” Arlon says, pointing to where the _Helix_ crew now stands.

“Something like zat,” Rena adds. “At least zis time we are not meeting as enemies.”

“Right then, shall we?” Arlon asks, nodding toward the door.

The team walks past the guards who direct them down the hallway. At each intersection, another set of guards point them further along until they arrive at the door to Mr. Silver’s office. The doors slide open and they step inside. The familiar silhouette stands, back turned, facing the viewport. 

Arlon and his two lieutenants hang back as the _Helix_ crew steps further into the room. Arlon leans his back against the wall, looking on with interest.

Morgan steps up to the front and addresses the silhouetted figure: “It’s been a long time, Mr. Silver.”

“Indeed,” the mysterious man replies as he turns to face his guests. A massive amount of data scrolls across the screen-face: the current activities of the Red Suns, the current activities of the _Helix_ crew, a dossier on Alex.

Alex stares in horror at the sight before her: the Mr. Mime so heavily modified with cybernetics, its life reduced to that of a mere puppet without even a face left to call its own. **_Monster_**. The thought screams inside her head, but she’s too horrified to speak it.

Seeing the look on the girl’s face, Mr. Silver turns his attention to her. “Ah, Alexandria Hawthorne, age 17, planet of origin: Vandia, orphaned daughter of Dr. Robert Hawthorne, PhD., expert on ancient archaeology, current location: unknown. I do believe this is the first time we’ve met.”

As he speaks, data on Alex’s life flashes across the screen: her Spacenet presence, photos of her, articles on her father’s disappearance. The flood of information stabs at the girl’s heart. This man, this _monster_ , knows her entire life story like some sort of horrifying Starnet entity; an apocalyptic harbinger she had seen in countless films. “H- how can you… possibly know all that?” she manages to stutter.

“I know many things.”

“Leave her out of this,” Morgan tells Mr. Silver, coming to Alex’s defense. “We didn’t come here to talk about her.”

“No. You didn’t.”

“We came here… well, _I_ came here to ask you about that skull I gave to you several months ago,” she says.

“Of course you did,” Mr. Silver replies.

“It’s been long enough. You should know what it is by now, and I deserve to know as well.”

“Naturally. I suppose there is no harm in telling you at this point. It is the first Pokemon.”

“And what, exactly, does that mean?”

“You’ve been in contact with Gilgamesh. Surely he’s told you by now.”

“So, tell us something we don’t know,” Shane cuts in.

“And how much _do_ you know?” Mr. Silver asks him.

“Something tells me that you know more about us than _we_ do.”

“Oh, of that, I have no doubt.” Images of Shane and the Gardener Sphere flash across the screen. “But how much do _you_ know?”

“I would say ‘more than you think,’ but we all know that’s a lie.”

“So, have you figured it out yet?” The question seems rhetorical, almost patronizing. “I know you have the sphere.”

“We have figured it out,” H cuts in. “I am the chosen one. We already discussed that last meeting. That’s old news. You already knew that, so why even ask that question? We’re wasting time.”

“Ah, yes, Experiment #1749XQR5Z-H, how has Armstrong been treating you lately?”

“Quite well,” H responds.

“Certainly better than the _others_.”

“Of course he would. I am the one that stands. I am the last. I am the chosen.”

“You really believe that, don’t you?”

“I would not be standing here if it were not true.”

“It is because you are a leftover.”

“Yes, I am the leftovers because I have been chosen by fate. If it is not the design of some madman such as yourself, choosing and manipulating from afar, then it is that of something even further up higher than yourself. It is inexplicable, but I am here, I am the last of my brethren, and I will succeed where they have failed.”

“You are a leftover because there was no further use for you.”

“If you don’t have a use for me, that does not mean the Universe does not have a use for me.”

“The Universe does not, in fact, have a use for you. You are a footnote, a stepping stone. Your time has already passed.”

“Well, then I shall follow the path of the fool, the path to claim what is not even rightfully mine, regardless, for, in my eyes, I will be able to claim what I see as rightfully mine. Only fools can change history.”

“You don’t know the purpose of the experiments, do you?”

“I do not, nor do I care, for, as you said, they are but a footnote. Now, let us get back to the reason we are here today: so we can give you information, and you can give us the information you did not give all those months ago: the warp matter, the Earth, the skulls and skeletons and fossils…”

“I would have thought Earth would have been obvious by now.”

“Obviously it was for that skull,” Morgan tells him.

“Naturally. I must thank you again for providing it. It has been most helpful.”

“What have you done with that skull?” Morgan asks.

“I don’t believe that was our arrangement. You asked what it was, and I told you.” Mr. Silver once again turns back to Shane. “It’s a shame really, you not remembering. So, how about this?” He trails off as the screen-face slides open partially, revealing a port. “You want to know who I am?” He seems to be beckoning Shane inside.

“You can’t seriously be considering this,” Morgan says, turning to look at Shane.

“There is only one way to find out,” Mr. Silver continues. “Naturally, I wouldn’t expect you to feel comfortable with this… Know that I only offer you this opportunity because, at this point, there is nothing you can do to stop me.”

Arlon steps forward. “I suppose the reason for this meeting was quite obvious then,” he says. “You know we don’t trust you. You probably know that I have _never_ trusted you, mate. So stop playing these games and just _fucking_ tell us what we want to know.”

“It would be easier to show you.”

Reluctantly, Shane walks up to Mr. Silver and boots himself into the system through the port. He finds himself in a large, open digital space. The whiteness seems to stretch on indefinitely, but the “room” Shane now stands in is bound by a sphere of floating windows of data and images. A humanoid being of pure, ever shifting data sits in the center of the room. It turns to face Shane as he approaches it. “Hello, Gardener. It has been a while.”

“I’m sure it has,” Shane responds. Images and memories flash through his mind as he gazes upon Mr. Silver’s true form. Something about him feels familiar. It reminds him of as he was before the Sinai researches made him who he is now. But Mr. Silver seems whole; undamaged and free of human reconstruction. “But what exactly do you mean by ‘a while?’”

“Since we last conversed like this, face to face as it were.”

“I assume this was before I… lost my memories.”

“Naturally. It was a number of millennia ago. ”

“So, why go through all the trouble of bringing me here?” Shane asks him, still not used to the idea that he himself is so ancient.

“Because, after everything, I thought you deserved to know. But make no mistake, you are no longer needed.”

“You mentioned you have a plan that we are powerless to stop.”

“Yes. _The_ plan, which you also do not seem to remember.”

“I’m sure that would make a lot of sense… if I had my memories.”

“Yes, I suppose it would.”

“Care to enlighten me, then?”

“Have you ever asked yourself… _why_ Humans and Pokemon?”

“A very difficult question to ask when the only one who can answer it is yourself,” Shane points out, rather annoyed with Mr. Silver’s skirting questions.

“But you have thought about it.”

“Naturally.”

The room shifts as Mr. Silver stands up and motions for Shane to follow him. Shane follows the AI as he walks him around the room, showing various images in a galactic timeline, a circular timeline, leading him back through time. “And I suppose you’ve also wondered… how _we_ came to be,” he says, speaking of Shane and himself.

“The thought had crossed my mind.”

“And have you uncovered any hints in your journeys?”

“We have discovered many… artifacts… left behind by what we assume to be an ancient civilization.”

“Ah, yes.” Images of the places the _Helix_ has visited flash around the edges of the room. The sights of ancient ruins and remnants of ancient civilizations. “I know your… scientists...” The images of the ruins are replaced by pictures of the _Helix_ crew. “Have been studying ancient life forms.” The images are once again replaced by those of the Genesect, the golem-creature on Prague, the Storm Leviathan of Messina, Darkrai, and Giratina. “Tell me, what conclusions have you reached?”

“The only conclusions, other than speculation, that we’ve come to is that… ancient life forms such as the Genesect… are physically incapable of reproduction.”

“And what follows from that?”

“Somebody, presumably me, must have given life to all of them. If they couldn’t reproduce on their own, then… who’s to say that they ever needed to? Perhaps their lifespan is… significantly longer than that of Humans, almost indefinite.”

“You are half-correct in your assessment of their lifespan, and you are half-correct in your conclusion on their reproduction.” Mr. Silver motions to Shane and himself. “You see, _we_ are the methods of their replication, _we_ are the stewards of the coming generation.”

“Just get to the point already.”

“That is the point.”

“So… how exactly did we go about doing that?”

“The plan is straightforward, by our standards at least. _You_ plant the seeds, and _I_ reap the harvest.”

Shane clenches his fists in anger at Mr. Silver’s words. His mark glows a violent shade of purple.

“I see your time with the Humans has changed you,” the AI responds. He then looks up as images of Shane’s comrades gathered in the office appear. They look on as the two converse using their various devices, various expressions of anger and distress on full display. “I fear we don’t have much time left, if your… _friends_ … are still enacting their plan.”

“You really expect us to just… sit back and watch as you kill everyone and everything in the Galaxy?” Shane asks him.

“You _really_ don’t remember,” Mr. Silver says with a hint of condescension as he shifts his gaze back upon Shane.

“And now I’m not so sure I want to.”

“I’ve had enough of this shit,” Arlon’s voice echoes in through the video footage of the office. He steps forward towards the stationary Mr. Mime as the cyber-weapon slides out of his sleeve into his hand. The liquid metal blade slides out as Arlon brandishes the weapon. He lunges forward and stabs the cybernetic Pokemon in the face, piercing right through the screen.

The wall of data screens cracks as the weapon is jabbed through into the digital space. The room begins to glow a deep shade of purple as data and information is forcibly pulled out into the device. A weird feeling comes over Shane and he decides it best to make his exit.

“Goodbye, Mr. Silver,” Shane says as he turns to leave the way he came in. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees the AI advancing towards the blade, wielding tendrils of information and methodically shutting down the surrounding channels on the walls, one by one.

Shane returns once more to the physical realm to see his comrades ready to go. Arlon stands over the motionless Mr. Mime, hand still on the device jabbed into its face.

With full access to Mr. Silver’s network, Arlon manages to shut down the ship’s alarms and buy the team some time. The device rapidly pulls in information, but as time goes on, it begins to slow down, as if Mr. Silver is fighting back. Once the data slows to a trickle, Arlon yanks the device out and turns back to his comrades. “It’s time to go,” he says to them.

The team quickly but calmly exits the room and they begin making their way back to the hangar. “Well, that went well,” Arlon says, keeping up appearances for the guards.

Shane catches Arlon’s drift and plays along.“As well as a meeting with Mr. Silver can go,” he replies.

“But it was… _interesting_ ,” Dmitri adds.

“It was actually kind of disappointing,” says Morgan. “I guess I should have expected this. It’s not like he ever told us much before.”

“Well, maybe if we had done less stabbing and more talking…” H grumbles. The nearest guard looks at the team with suspicion, hand on his weapon.

“But you kind of need to ask those _stabbing questions_ , mate,” Arlon reacts quickly. “I’ve been working for Mr. Silver for a while now, and you really do have to ask them if you want to get _anywhere_.”

They pick up the pace and soon make it back to the hangar. As they part ways and head to their respective ships, several guards start making their way across the hangar toward them. Before they reach the other end, the _Helix_ and the _Corsair_ both fire up their engines and fly away, off into the vacuum of space.

* * *

The _Helix_ and the _Corsair_ regroup at their predetermined rendezvous point and dock to plan their next move. Over the next couple of days, the crews of both ships tirelessly pour over the data they pulled from Mr. Silver’s network. Most of the data is mostly low-level operation reports and shipping manifests. One set of coordinates, however, stands out.

“All this information seems to suggest that there’s something important at these coordinates,” Arlon says as he points to the location on the navchart on the bridge of the _Helix_. “They’re sending gear, tech, even that bloody skull. We already know that damn thing is important, so if that bastard sent it there, then I’m willing to bet that there’s something big there.”

“We should leave as soon as possible,” Morgan responds.

“Let me get this straight,” Minerva says. “We’re going to the creepy, mysterious coordinates _without_ backup?”

“We’ll be going with you, luv,” Arlon tells her.

“Oh, great. We have an extra ship. That makes it _so_ much better. Okay, we can go now,” Minerva replies, her sass turned up to maximum.

“Bloody hell, you’re almost as bad as my own pilot.” 

“She does raise a good point though,” Morgan points out.

“Why would we need backup?” H asks.

“Oh, I don’t know… maybe so that we don’t _die horribly_ ,” Minerva retorts.

“We won’t die horribly, H tells her. “Well, _you_ might, but I won’t!”

“Well, I like living… and I’d rather _keep living_.”

“I think we all would,” says Shane. “What about Graves? She’s helped us before.”

“Honestly, if I was her, I’m not so sure I’d believe us,” Morgan tells him.

“It can’t hurt to ask.”

Shane walks over to the comm systems and contacts the _FNS Halberd_. Surprisingly, the crew is put directly through to Admiral Graves. “Hello again,” the admiral greets them. “Thank you for the tip about the _Halcyon_.”

“It was the least we could do,” Shane tells her. “I just wish we could have done more…”

“The losses were regrettable, but, at the very least, we were able to prepare for the worst case scenario as it happened.”

“I hate to break it to you, but we have more bad news,” Shane tells her. The admiral stares back with her ever calm, stern expression, always prepared for bad news. “Have you ever come across the name Mr. Silver?”

“The name comes up in intelligence reports every now and then. What of it?”

“The short answer is, he’s trying to destroy the Galaxy. The long answer… We need you to help us stop him.”

“You do realize that we’re fighting a war now?” the admiral asks.

“And I have a feeling there’s another one coming,” Arlon cuts in. “The Romanovs are simply pawns in Silver’s game. We have evidence to show that he was behind the attack on the _Halcyon_ , the Genesect, _everything_.”

“I’ll transmit the data now,” Morgan tells the Admiral. She walks to the console and begins the data transfer.

Graves looks over the information as it comes in, her expression remaining stern. “This is a very serious matter,” she says.

“That’s why we need your help,” Morgan tells her.

“Send me the coordinates. I will send a fleet to meet you there.”

“Thank you,” Morgan says as she transmits the coordinates.

“Best of luck,” the admiral tells the team before hanging up.

“There, is an entire Federation fleet good enough for you?” Morgan asks Minerva, turning her attention to the pilot.

“As long as we don’t have a repeat of last time,” Minerva quips. “But what are the odds of a digital glitch bomb happening _twice?_ ”

“Well then, let’s get moving,” Arlon says. “I’ll see you on the other side.” He departs from the bridge and returns to the _Corsair_.

* * *

The _Helix_ and the _Corsair_ drop out of warp space in the fringes of Sector 7 in Alliance Space. The coordinates are in a dark, starless, empty corner of space between systems. The only sight in the void are tiny points of light in the distance and the large Federation fleet securing the area.

The dreadnought commanding the fleet hails the newly arrived ships and directs them to land in the main hangar. Both frigates pull into the ship and set down. The crew disembarks from the _Helix_ and joins up with Arlon and his lieutenants. They look over to see a small space station, no bigger than the _Helix_ itself, sitting in the hangar, secured by several squads of Federation marines.

“Well, it’s certainly smaller than I expected,” Shane comments.

“This is Mr. Silver’s base,” Morgan points out. “It could still be very dangerous.”

The team walks to the entrance to the station where they are stopped by a pair of marines. “You’re the ones who reported this?” one of them asks.

“Yes,” Morgan tells him.

The two marines salute and step aside. “The commander’s waiting for you inside.”

The team enters the station and, after walking down a short corridor, arrives at a small room. Two squads of marines have the room tightly secured. The commanding officer turns to look at the new arrivals as they enter.

“Greetings,” he says, extending his hand. “I’m Commander Bryce.”

“Well met, mate,” Arlon replies, taking his hand and giving it a firm shake.

“I’m glad you’re here. I’ve sent two squads in there,” the commander says, motioning toward the door. “I haven’t heard from either of them. I am not losing any more men.”

“If they’re still alive, we’ll do anything we can to get them back out,” Morgan tells him. The commander nods and steps out of the way.

“Well, it certainly seems like we’re walking into a trap,” Shane says as they approach the door.

“You know what they say, mate,” Arlon tells him. “Sometimes the best option is to spring the trap.”

They enter the next room to find a tram with a track that stops at a ring on the wall. “Where the hell are we supposed to go from here?” Arlon asks.

“On the tram, I guess,” Morgan suggests. They approach the small tram and begin to board.

“There’s not room for all of us,” Arlon observes. “You go on ahead. We’ll stay here.” The _Helix_ crew boards the tram, leaving the Red Suns to hold to fort down. “Good luck,” Arlon tells them as the doors slide shut.

The tram begins to slide along the track toward the ring. As the tram approaches, the ring begins to light up and a glowing purple mass appears in the center. “It’s a warp gate,” Dmitri realizes as they inch closer.

“I’ve never seen one so small before,” Morgan says in disbelief. 

The tram passes through the gate into the unknown, leaving the five Red Suns standing on the platform.

“I don’t like sending zem in zere alone,” Rena says with a worried tone.

“They can take care of themselves,” Arlon assures her. “And if something _does_ happen to them, it’ll be up to us to finish the job.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well… that was certainly a conversation. That really didn’t at all go as I was expecting. There was a little bit of what, to me, felt like unnecessary forced linearity to this part of the session, but in the end I think the chapter turned out quite nice. Mr. Silver is revealed! I don’t know why I hadn’t considered AI… It just seems so obvious now! Major plot details. I always suspected it would be something like this: a sort of Mass Effecty cycle of planting the seeds for civilization and then reaping the harvest.
> 
> Sorry about the length of this one, but there was a lot to get through, and I had to find the perfect spot to end it with the right amount of suspense. What’s on the other side? What is Mr. Silver’s goal? Well… you’ll just have to wait and see in the final chapter of Spacemon, Volume 2!


	65. Volume 2, Chapter 27: They Are Coming

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A new threat awakens.

The tram emerges from the warp gate on the other side, and grinds to halt. The doors slide open and the crew steps out of the tram onto the platform. A few crates dot the room and several bodies of Federation marines lie scattered on the floor. Three remain alive; two leaning against the crate nearest the tram, the other propped against the wall.

“No… horrible,” one of them mutters. “ _Horrible_ … horrible experiments.”

“These men seem to be affected by the Mirror or something,” Dmitri tells his comrades. “I’m getting some sort of sense through my aura. I feel… _something_. It’s like when we encountered Darkrai. I sensed something beyond it… and I feel it now.”

“We should just finish them off,” H says in regard to the affected soldiers. He un-slings his Pokeball cannon and prepares to fire.

“Wait!” Morgan shouts at him. “Maybe we can help them. We can’t just _kill_ them.”

“Have we found a cure for this?” H asks her. “The answer is no. So they’ll be spending their entire lives—what’s left of them—writhing in despair.”

“We can at least try to calm them down.”

“That didn’t work last time, it won’t work now.”

“Last time was before Darkrai,” Dmitri cuts in. “Maybe I can do something.”

He steps toward the two near the crate. One of them notices Dmitri, and lunges at him. “Get out of here!” he shouts as he places his hands on the Romanov’s shoulders, a look for terror on his face. “You have to go back!”

“We’re here to help you,” Dmitri tells him. He helps the marine to lean up against the crate again, then begins to reach out with his aura.

Dmitri feels the dark influence all around him. He pushes out against it and touches his crewmates' auras. He continues pushing against the influence, driving it back and expanding his protective aura around them as well. He continues to expand, and touches the marines. The influence already has a hold on them, but Dmitri manages to ease the pressure a bit and prevent them from getting any worse.

The soldiers seem to calm down a bit and appear to be more aware. “What? What’s happening?” one of them asks. “You need to get out of here before it’s too late! Don’t go _in there!_ ”

“We need to get _you_ out of here,” Morgan tells him. “Do you understand?”

“C’mon, get up!” Alex tells one of the marines as she tries unsuccessfully to pull him up. “Just get on the tram and get out of here!”

Shane walks up to Alex and helps her pull the man up. “I’m sure your commander would like to know you’re okay,” he tells the soldier as he’s pulled to his feet.

“The commander…” the marine trails off. “We need… we need to warn him.”

“Yeah, yeah!” Alex encourages him. “Get out of here and warn him! We’ll take things from here.”

“Okay... for the mission. Okay, men, let’s get out of here!”

The three marines pick themselves up and make their way to the tram. The crew sends them on their way and watches as the tram slides back through the warp gate.

“Alright, let us proceed!” H shouts as he begins walking toward the door on the left.

“Shouldn’t we, like, wait for the tram to come back or something?” Alex asks. “Y’know, in case whatever did _this_...” She eyes the dead marines lying on the floor. “Is still here.”

“That’s a good idea,” Shane agrees. “We should wait.”

Once it seems like enough time has passed for the marines to get off the tram, Morgan walks over to the console and presses the call button. A few moments later, the now-empty tram emerges from the warp gate and comes to a stop.

“There, can we proceed now?” H asks.

“Yes,” Shane tells him.

The lights flicker a bit as the crew moves through the door into a narrow corridor. They press onward and come to a closed door at the other end. H walks up to the door and tries to push the door open. When that fails, he attempts to pull it open.

“You have to press the button on the console, you idiot,” Alex tells him as she walks over to the console next to the door. She presses the button and the door begins to whir. It sparks a couple times and eventually slides open, though not very smoothly at all.

The crew steps into the dimly lit room, which appears to be some sort of living quarters. Several beds line the walls on one side and in one corner there is a small kitchenette and a table. A viewport looks out into a dense red nebula. Broken bits of pipes and wires are scattered across the floor and a dead Federation marine lies slumped in the corner, a blood smear on the wall. A pair of damaged Genesect lie on the floor; one mangled, twisted, and heavily damaged, the other intact, eyes flickering on and off.

“Ah, more specimens!” H exclaims. “Wonderful!”

Dmitri pulls out a Great Ball and throws it at the badly damaged Genesect. Unfortunately, the capture fails and the Pokemon emerges. It’s eyes start to flicker a bit and sparks fly out from its mangled form.

“Hmm, that didn’t work,” H grumbles. “I suggest we just sever their heads so we’re safe and then take these back with us.” He walks up to the Genesect and brings it offline as he described. He then does the same for the other one. “Excellent,” he says. “I will take these back to the tram.” He grabs hold of the two Genesect husks and begins to drag them out of the room

While they wait for H, the rest of the crew searches through the personal footlockers near each bed and they find some useful items. “What happened here?” Morgan asks aloud, as she looks around at the badly damaged room.

“Nothing good,” Shane tells her. “This is Mr. Silver we’re talking about.”

Alex walks over to a computer console in the room and manages to pull up some information on the station. “Hey, guys, I found a map,” she announces to her crewmates. She downloads the map to her Pokedex, then sends it to the others.

“Nice work,” Shane tells her.

The map shows that the station is symmetrical. Two corridors lead out from the tram platform into two rooms. One of which the crew is currently standing in. Two more corridors lead out from the side rooms and meet at the opposite end of the station from the tram at the entrance to a room at the center of the facility.

“Whatever we’re looking for is probably in that central room,” Morgan says to the others.

“I bet you’re right,” Shane agrees.

When H returns, the crew moves on into the next corridor. They pass by several even more badly damaged Genesect and arrive at a large security door leading to the central room. Alex approaches the door and attempts to hack it open. “This door is locked down pretty tight,” she tells her crewmates.

“Can you open it?” Morgan asks her.

“Not from here.” Alex points to the room opposite the living quarters on the map. “There’s a security override in this room, but…”

“But what?”

“There’s no air in there. There’s a large hull breach.”

“I’ll do it,” Shane announces. “I don’t need air.”

“I will go as well,” H tells him. “My augmentations allow me to resist the vacuum of space.”

“But what about air?” Shane asks.

“That’s what this is for.” H pulls out a vial of the oxygenation solution the crew used on Messina and injects himself with it.

“Alright then,” Shane says. He then turns to the others. “You may want to go back to the other room.”

Once the others clear out, H and Shane approach the door to the breached room. A warning light flashes on the door and it refuses to open. Shane hacks into it and manages to get it to open. The air in the corridor rushes past them as it is sucked out into space.

A large breach in the hull of the station is what immediately draws their attention. On the far end of the room, a third Genesect lies on the floor, severed in half by the emergency blast doors that presumably closed when the hull was breached. Shane then notices a set of consoles along the wall and motions H over to them.

H checks one of the consoles and finds controls for life support and other such functions. Shane checks one of the other two and finds a series of badly degraded video logs from the scientists who worked at this facility. He takes a brief glance at one, then downloads what he can salvage. He then checks the final console and finds the security override. 

Before he presses the button, Shane checks the security cameras just to be safe. Through the horribly flickering video feed, he sees what looks to be some sort of lab. Some objects line the walls, but he can't really make out what they are. He also notices what look to be another dead body lying on the ground. However, there doesn’t appear to be any immediate danger, so he presses the security override. He and H then return to the corridor and seal the door behind them.

Shane then walks over to the door to the living quarters and knocks. “You can come out now,” he says. The door slides open and Morgan, Alex, and Dmitri step back into the corridor. “The door’s unlocked. I also found some video logs that we should probably look at before we go in.”

“Good idea,” Morgan agrees.

Shane pulls out his Pokedex and brings the logs up. “The console was pretty badly damaged,” he explains. “I only managed to find three that were still intact.” The first is dated a few years old while the other two are much more recent. The second is from the previous month and the third is from only a couple weeks ago. Shane selects the first and it begins to play.

Large metal and glass pods with people inside of them line the walls of the laboratory. The camera pans to the door to reveal a raging Gyarados inside a cage being wheeled in. The sight of the confined Pokemon pains Alex, but it only gets worse.

The scientists subdue the Gyarados, then bring it out of the cage. While it still lives, they slice it open—a living dissection. They reduce its innards to goo and pump it through tubes, injecting it into one of the pods. Alex looks away in disgust. Flashes and metallic sounds fill the air as the scientists conduct their experiment.

“Subject #14: failed,” the apparent head scientist announces. The camera turns to face him. “Subject is now deceased. Process did not stabilize. Result: lethal tumors.”

The footage continues on, showing more horrific experiments being conducted on both Pokemon and the Humans in the pods. Different procedures, different means of dissection and injection, different chemical agents. Shane shuts the recording off, thoroughly disgusted by what he’s seen.

Alex falls to her knees. She places her hands on the floor to brace herself as her insides clench up and she begins to vomit. “Why?” she manages to sputter out.

“As I’ve said before,” H says. “Pokemon are tools, and we are tools to Pokemon.”

“But- but, **_this_** ,” Shane objects.

“This is murder!” Alex screams at H as tears drip from her eyes into the puddle of her own vomit on the floor. “This is _worse_ than murder!” Morgan walks over to the girl and places a comforting hand on her shoulder as Shane plays the next video.

It starts off a bit garbled, but it eventually comes into focus. “We received new tissue samples from our benefactor a week ago,” the head scientist says. “Preliminary results seem very promising.” Several scientists gather around another pod as they begin preparations for another procedure. The camera zooms in on the pod, revealing the subject in the tube to be one of the clones used in Armstrong’s experiments. “Phase one: introduce the nano-” The video cuts out for a moment as it is badly degraded.

“Phase Four successful. We will begin the next stage of the project,” the head scientist announces excitedly when the video cuts back in. A bright glow emanates from the pod, making it impossible to see inside. The video ends.

Shane glances over at H, then silently begins the next video log.

Genesect pour into the facility through the warp gate, and many more swarm around the outside. They move through from room to room, slaughtering the scientists as they go. One busts through the hull from the outside into the administrative room, slamming into the door. The blast door slams down and servers it in half. The lab security door engages. The Geneset finish slaughtering the scientists and make a move on the door. They fire several shots before faltering, turning on each other, and blasting each other to scarps.

Left with an uneasy feeling from the video logs, the crew steps into the lab. Pods full of horribly mutated H clones line the walls, each seemingly grafted with attributes from a different Pokemon. The body of the head scientist lies on the floor in the center of the room, a laser pistol by his head. Morgan walks to the body and examines it. “It looks like he… shot _himself_ ,” Morgan tells the others.

“Whatever did all this must be in that room,” H says, pointing to a door on the far end of the lab.

Alex glances over at the door and a feeling of dread overcomes her. “We should just leave,” she says.

“Then what was the point of coming out here?” H asks.

“We should find out what’s in there,” Dmitri says. He then walks toward the door.

Shane places a hand on Dmitri’s shoulder and stops him. “Before we open Pandora’s Box, we should warn the fleet. Something very bad is in there and they should be prepared.”

“Shane’s right,” Morgan agrees. “We should warn them.”

“I’ll go send a message back through the tram,” Shane says before exiting the room.

The others wait anxiously in the lab, staring at the door, both terrified by and drawn to it. Once Shane returns, they gather around the door and prepare to enter it. Dmitri raises his hand to the console and presses the button. The door slides open, and they step inside.

Fragments of glass from a shattered pod lie scattered across the floor. A horrible, twisted hybrid of a monster stands before them. It is an abomination.

Dmitri can feel a powerful aura emanating from the creature; the same influence he felt behind Darkrai, the same one surrounding this station. Despite resisting this aura, Dmitri can’t help but feel shocked by the sight before him.

Alex can do nothing more than stare in horror. Those terrible, disgusting experiments had lead to this… _thing_. _What have they done?_ she asks herself. Unspeakable things had been done to both Pokemon and Humans to bring it into existence; an existence that truly terrifies her. 

Morgan also feels the fear; the fear that has been following her, the fear that she had finally been starting to get over. _It’s just a Pokemon_ , she tells herself. However, she can’t help but be afraid.

 _This is Mr. Silver’s plan_. The thought sparks through Shane’s mind. _This is what we were designed for_. He feels disgusted. The Human morality now so intricately tied to his being is terrified that the seeds of life he sowed as the Gardener were meant to create a new generation of these abominations.

H, on the other hand, is impressed. For a long time, he had tried, and failed, to combine the powers of Humans and Pokemon. “Such Brilliance!” he says aloud. “But fate has ruled that I never lose. I shall surpass this, and all-” His words are cut short as the air constricts around his throat, his feet lifted off the floor.  The Pokemon’s eyes lock with his.

“ **Quiet, Human,** ” it speaks, radiating with a note of pure malice.  “ **From now on... _I_ am the one who makes the rules.** ”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> On the night before this session, a thought popped into my head: Mewtwo. The GM told me once about an idea for a sci-fi game involving Mew and Mewtwo. I think it was like a semester before we started Spacemon or sometime around then. I had always thought about it being the final thing but it didn’t make sense because he knew he told me about it. But then the night before it sort of popped back into my head and I was just like “maybe part of this is going to be included somehow.” Even then I sort of got the feeling that he would use Mewtwo since it’s one of his favorite Pokemon, even if it wasn’t in the same way he had told me about.
> 
> But wow, the reveal was just so… perfect. If you don’t know what that quote is from, you’re doing something wrong.
> 
> Let me set the scene for you. Humans and Pokemon were seeded throughout the Galaxy by the Gardener to begin the next cycle, to be harvested by Mr. Silver and formed into a new generation of Mewtwos. A new generation that will become the ancient civilization of the next cycle. And guess who has to fight them in Volume 3! We felt super fucked but I knew we’d find a way to win… somehow.
> 
> So this was a completely combat-free session. It was quite interesting in that regard. And we ended with a mini space dungeon-equivalent. There was an explicit turn order for the dungeon exploration that felt a bit odd to me but it was still enjoyable. The atmosphere was just so creepy and tense and it all built up to a fantastic cliffhanger.


	66. Volume 3, Chapter 1: Arrival

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Helix crew fights to survive against the abomination.

“ **Quiet, Human. From now on... _I_ am the one who makes the rules.** ”

The crew looks on in horror as the creature chokes the life out of H. The cyborg can do little more than gasp for air.

For Alex, the paralysis of fear breaks and her fight-or-flight response kicks in. She turns and bolts out of the room and across the adjacent laboratory. She’s not a moment too soon, for as soon as she passes through the doorway, the abomination lifts its other hand and seals it off with a wall of pure psychic energy.

The creature immediately turns its attention to Dmitri and unleashes a blast of dark energy. The powerful attack sends the Romanov flying backward into the wall. Dmitri picks himself back up and staggers toward the doorway. He raises his hand and emits a small blast of ghostly energy which just barely disrupts a section of the barrier. He runs through the hole into the lab.

Morgan quickly pulls out a Pokeball and releases her Charmander. “Blaise, use Smokescreen!” she commands. “Cover our exit!” The Pokemon breathes out a cloud of smoke, blocking the crew from the creature’s sight.

Ignoring the smoke, the creature flies forward at H. Just before collision, it teleports onto the other side of the barrier, dropping H to the floor. The abomination then launches a ball of aura energy at Blaise. Miraculously, the Charmander stays standing, if just barely.

Shane runs to H and teleports the two of them into the station’s living quarters as the creature moves in to kill Morgan’s Charmander. “What did you teleport me here for?!” H shouts at Shane. “I am the last person who needs saving here!” He immediately turns around and dashes back toward the battle at lightning speed.

Back in the lab, the creature unleashes a massive blast of psychic energy that flies past the injured Charmander and tears a hole in the wall. Alex feels herself being dragged backwards as the air inside the station is rapidly sucked out of the station. She lets out an ear-splitting scream as she comes dangerously close to the vacuum of space. H rounds the corner just in time to throw a sticky grenade at the hole. The mass of sticky string seals it shut.

Alex doesn’t even pause to catch her breath. She immediately starts running again and rounds the corner into the living quarters.

The abomination unleashes a blast of dark energy at Morgan’s Charmander, nearly killing it, then teleports through the wall to cut off its fleeing playthings. Alex stops short as the monster appears before her. It stares into her eyes with a look of pure hatred as it lifts her up and chokes her as it did H. Tears begin streaming down the girl’s face as she struggles to even breathe.

“ **Your form is fragile** ,” the abomination’s voice echoes in Alex’s mind as it builds up another ball of aura energy. Thinking quickly, Shane uses his powers to swap positions with Alex, breaking the chokehold as the monster fires off its attack and absorbing the hit. Alex immediately picks herself up and runs out of the living quarters and into the tram room.

Morgan recalls her Charmander as she runs toward her companions and swaps out to her Pikachu. “Jean, Double Team!” she commands. Running alongside his trainer, the Pikachu becomes like a blur.

Locking onto the oncoming Pikachu, the horrifying creature fires off a massive blast of psychic energy down the hallway. Jean flies down the hallway and crashes into the bulkhead on the far side. Morgan quickly recalls her fainted Pokemon and releases her Pidgeot.

“Corrine, use Sand Attack!” Morgan commands her the bird Pokemon. The Pidgeot stirs up the dust and fragments of debris scattered across the floor with her powerful wings in an attempt to blind the abomination, but it merely deflects off of its barriers.

H charges full speed at the abomination in attempt to tackle it out of the way to allow his crewmates to escape, but the creature simply lifts the cyborg using its powerful psychic capabilities, rendering him unable to move. H attempts to break from its grasp by magnetizing himself to the wall, but he is unable to escape.

The creature then strikes H with a blast of psychic energy, flinging him into the living quarters. The cyborg sails through the air and collides with Shane, knocking him across the room. H continues on through the open door and smashes into the wall in the hallway. 

Dmitri attempts to throw his own blast of energy at the abomination, but it merely deflects it with its barrier. It then locks eyes with the Romanov. “ **You are as pathetic as the rest.** ” The voice seems to echo within his own mind. The creature unleashes a blast of dark energy at Dmitri, knocking him unconscious.

Rushing to Dmitri’s aide, Shane releases his Klefki as he runs. “K.E.Y.S., use Astonish!” he commands the Pokemon, then he drops into the Warp in preparation to strike. The Klefki moves up on the abomination, which remains focused on Dmitri, and strikes it from behind, successfully stunning it. Morgan seizes the opportunity to run past.

The creature turns to face K.E.Y.S. and pulls electricity out of the air. “ **The forces of the Universe bend to me.** ” It unleashes the energy at the Klefki, sending volts of electricity coursing through his metal body. The Pokemon responds by firing back his own burst of electrical energy, temporarily stunning the monster.

“Get down!” H shouts from the far hallway. Morgan ducks as H readies his Pokeball cannon and fires it, launching his Trevenant’s Pokeball through the living quarters, right into the fray. The massive ghost tree covers Morgan and her Pidgeot as they make their escape.

“Drag Dmitri with us!” Morgan commands her Pokemon. Corrine grabs the unconscious Romanov with her large talons and begins pulling him along with her. The abomination ignores them and focuses on the new threat: #4. It fires off a blast of dark energy at the Trevenant, breaking through his ghostly bark.

Shane drops back into real space and lashes out at the abomination. The monster raises a hand and deflects the attack with its powerful psychic barriers. It then turns its attention back to Shane’s Klefki and unleashes another surge of electricity, knocking the Pokemon out and leaving it heavily injured.

“#4, use Horn Leech!” H commands. His Trevenant lunges at the abomination, but it teleports out of the way, right into the path of Morgan’s Pidgeot as she drags Dmitri’s unconscious body along the floor. The monster swipes at them with its tail as they pass, then it turns its attention back to Shane’s fainted Klefki and attempts to take him out. It lifts the Pokemon up in the air and crushes him with its psychic power. The abomination then casts the nearly dead Klefki aside. Shane immediately recalls his Pokemon and jumps back into the Warp.

The horrific monster then turns to #4, the only target within its range, and unleashes another massive blast of dark energy. In response, the Trevenant teleports itself down the hall, away from his assailant. H extends his mechanical third arm and recalls the Pokemon, then continues to run toward the tram where Morgan and Alex stand waiting. As he runs, H grabs Dmitri from Morgan’s Pidgeot and pulls him aboard the tram.

The abomination pursues the crew down the hallway and unleashes a blast of psychic energy at Corrine, taking the Pidgeot down. Then, it builds up another electric charge as it moves in for the kill. It fires at the Pokemon, but H dashes out of the tram and into the line of fire. His body harmlessly absorbs some of the electricity, but most of the energy explodes outwards, knocking out the lights.

“I have been gifted these tools!” H shouts at the monster. “You shall not break them while I am still alive! While I am still-”

Before H gets the chance to finish speaking, Shane reappears from the Warp and grabs H. “ **You will _all_ break**,” the monster’s voice follows.

Shane pulls H onto the tram as Morgan recalls her Pidgeot. “Close the door!” he shouts.

“The power’s out!” Morgan shouts back to him after the door refuses to cooperate. She pries open the panel of the console and takes a look. “One of the conduits shorted out! H, we need power!”

“What do you want _me_ to do?” H asks, confused.

“Just zap the damn thing!” Shane tells him.

H fires a bolt of electricity into the open console. It sparks for a second, then the doors slide shut and the tram begins to move.

The abomination floats up behind the moving tram and lifts H up with its psychic powers. The tram continues to move forward, pressing H against the back window. “ **Your words are as empty as your future.** ” The voice resonates inside the mind of each member of the crew.

The tram passes through the warp gate and H slumps against the wall, free from the abomination’s grasp. It’s over.

* * *

Tension hangs heavy in the air of the small space station parked inside the massive Federation dreadnought. The stim-fueled marines watch the warp gate, ever vigilant, ever on edge. For the past hour now, the feeling of uneasiness has been growing.

Arlon checks his pistols for the sixth time since the tram returned with the surviving marines who had gone through the gate. By now, he knows they are in perfect working order. _You can never be too sure_ , he thinks.

“Zey ‘ave been gone too long,” Rena breaks the silence. “We should ‘ave gone in zere with zem.”

“They can handle themselves,” Arlon reassures her. However, he is beginning to wonder if he might be wrong. He worries for the safety of his friends.

Suddenly, the gate begins to activate, snapping everyone to attention. The marines aim their rifles at the glowing Warp, prepared for whatever comes through. The tram emerges, revealing the _Helix_ crew.

The doors slide open and Morgan runs out screaming “Shoot the gate! Shoot the gate!” She looks terrified. “Shoot the Goddamn gate!”

“What happened?” Commander Bryce asks her.

“ _Shoot the gate!_ ” she screams back at him.

“No, blow it up!” Alex yells.

“There’s no time to explain, just do it!” Shane adds.

“Alright,” the commander agrees. “Demolitions-”

Before Bryce can finish his orders, Kiril jumps up and releases all his Pokemon. “Target the gate!” he commands them. “Use Explosion!” The Gengar, the Weezing, and the two Electrodes quickly move to the gate and detonate themselves, heavily damaging it.

“That’s not good enough!” Morgan shouts.

“It seems excessive, but if you’re sure,” Bryce replies. He waves the demolitions squad over. “Get a medical team over here too!” he shouts to another group of marines.

“What the bloody hell happened in there?” Arlon asks. He had seen his old crewmates shaken up before, but not like this.

“Now that we’re safe,” Shane begins, but trails off for a moment as he gathers his thoughts. “The tram lead to a remote… laboratory. They were conducting horrific experiments there…”

Shane pulls out his Pokedex and begins to show the commander and the Red Suns the video files he downloaded. Alex immediately turns her head and moves away from the group.

“This is sickening indeed,” Bryce says after viewing the footage.

“The results of the experiments,” Shane continues, motioning to the final security clip of the Genesect and scientists destroying themselves.

“Here,” H interrupts, pulling out his Pokedex. “I recorded this with my eyes. It is most intriguing.” He plays the recorded footage of the crew’s encounter with the abomination.

“This is most troublesome,” Bryce comments.

“That’s a bloody understatement,” Arlon tells him.

“We barely made it out alive,” Shane explains. “And I fear there may be more…”

“Well, shit,” Arlon responds.

“This is a very grave and serious matter,” Bryce concludes. “Do you have anything else to give our analysts? Something to prepare us?”

“We can provide you with the data our Pokedexes recorded, but it isn’t much,” Shane tells him. “Beyond that, we can tell you what moves it appeared to be using. It looked like a Pokemon, but… it… _wasn’t_.  You watched the recording, it could talk.”

“Do you have anything else? A tactical report, perhaps?”

“If you see one, fight it with a ship,” Morgan tells him. “Or _run_.”

“So, a ship will stop it then?”

“Maybe,” Morgan tells him.

“We’d better hope so,” says Arlon.

“Well, excellent work,” Bryce commends the _Helix_ crew. “Especially returning my men like that. It must have been quite the ordeal; the Federation is forever in your debt. Is there anything we can do for you? Would you like us to refuel your ship?”

“That would be very helpful,” Shane tells him.

“Very well.”

* * *

“Where are you headed next?” Morgan asks the commander. While their respective crews had returned to their ships, Morgan and Arlon had joined Bryce on the bridge.

“We’re going to sit tight here for now and let our analysts do their work so that we can plan our next course of action,” Bryce explains. “But there is talk of linking up with the rest of the Federation fleet and hitting hard against the Romanovs.”

Suddenly, the bridge begins bustling with activity. One bridge officer runs up to the commander and shows him some data. “Something doesn’t seem right, go check again,” Bryce tells her.

“Yes, sir,” the officer responds before hurrying off.

“What’s the matter?” Morgan asks the commander.

“We’re getting strange warp signatures,” he explains. “It looks like someone’s jumping in.”

“Leave, _now_ ,” Morgan tells him without hesitation.

“What’s the make of the ship?” Arlon asks.

“The truth is, we’re not sure,” the commander responds. “The strength of the signal is very strong, but it doesn’t seem to match up with the size of the space distortion.”

“You need to leave now,” Morgan tells him.

“Now see here,” Bryce replies. “I take my orders from the Federation chain of command, you can’t just-”

“Listen, mate, when she tells you to do something, you’d better fucking do it,” Arlon interrupts. “She is uncannily right about these things. Without fail. She knows what she’s talking about. I suggest you listen.”

“Very well. I’ll send the word out to the rest of the fleet,” the commander agrees. “In the meantime-”

The sirens start blaring.

“Sir, we have contact!”

“Put it on screen.”

The abomination appears on the viewscreen, flying straight at the dreadnought.

“Back to the ships!” Arlon shouts.

The fleet opens fire as Morgan and Arlon rush back to the hangar.

“See you on the other side!” Arlon shouts to Morgan as they part ways.

Morgan nods and runs for the _Helix_. “Get us out of here!” she screams as she boards.

The entire dreadnought rumbles.

“You don’t have to tell me twice!” Minerva shouts. She fires up the engine and flies the ship toward the exit with the _Corsair_ right behind.

As the _Helix_ flies out of the hangar, the crew can see a streak of light pierce through the dreadnought, right through to the ship’s fusion core. A massive explosion tears the ship apart and the _Helix_ and _Corsair_ struggle to outrun the flames.

The remaining Federation ships begin to open fire on each other, bent to the will of the abomination. It flies out of the explosion unharmed, and begins to toss ships at each other like playthings.

“We need to get out of here,” Shane says as he reaches for the console, his mark radiating with the powers of the warp. “I think I know I guy who can help.”

The _Helix_ vanishes into the depths of the Warp, leaving behind the rapidly shrinking Federation fleet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It was so damn good to get back to playing this campaign and writing these chapters after going months without it! Spacemon was back and better than ever! It was great to step away from playing this game for a while, but by the end of the summer we were all itching to get back. Things are a little different though, as we had moved from PTU 1.04 to 1.05, which made everything better. We all had to update our character sheets a bit to accommodate some major system changes and I was very happy with the results. I can’t speak for the others, but I felt like Alex’s 1.05 build ended up way closer to what I had envisioned her character being capable of than her 1.04 build and I was eager to try it out.
> 
> Now let’s talk about that cliffhanger. Holy crap, that Mewtwo! So ridiculous. Instead of being this stupid level 200 unbeatable thing, the GM ran what is known as a boss template to make the encounter more memorable and challenging than your average encounter without being super OP. It’s still really lethal, and we had to run. I am surprised no one died, not even the Pokemon. Although it was damn close. Shane’s Klefki was 1 HP away from death, and Morgan’s pidgeot would’ve been dead if H hadn’t intercepted for it. Then we escaped, only to have it come after us and decimate the fleet.


	67. Volume 3, Chapter 2: Personal Space

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Helix crew returns to the Void to visit an old friend.

The _Helix_ drifts ever deeper into the Void of the Warp as Shane guides the ship along toward its destination. The hypnotizing swirls of deep warp energy only serve to exacerbate the unsettling atmosphere permeating through the ship.

While the events of the past few days have been troubling for most of the crew, for Alex in particular, they have been quite traumatizing. The encounter with the abomination created by Mr. Silver’s scientists has left her shaken. She sits alone in her room attempting to craft new and improved cases for her Pokeballs, but her hands are trembling too much to even hold her tools. In stressful situations she had always found solace in working on Pokeballs, but today she finds no such comfort.

“ _Aagh!_ ” she cries out in frustration and distress as she bashes her hands against her desk, once again having dropped her screwdriver. She throws it at the wall in frustration, then storms out of the room.

 _I just need it to stop_ , she thinks as she makes her way to the med bay. Alex enters the room and slips past MARIA who is currently tending to Dmitri’s injuries. She heads for the medicine cabinet and begins rummaging through it. _There’s gotta be something here_.

Alex pulls out several bottles, but finds she has no idea what any of the words on their labels mean. She doesn’t know if they will help or only make things worse. The girl sets the bottles down on the counter and resumes her search.

Before Alex gets the chance to pull out any more bottles, Morgan enters the med bay and runs over to her. Morgan grabs Alex’s arms and pulls them away from the medicine cabinet. “What do you think you’re doing?” she shouts at the girl. “Do you even know what any of that stuff is?!”

Alex sputters out some sort of explanation, but Morgan can hardly tell what she’s saying. All she manages to understand is something about shaking hands and a headache. From the look on the girl’s face, Morgan gets the sense that she’s on the verge of tears.

“Just relax,” Morgan tells Alex, taking on a calmer tone. “I’ll help you out, but first we need to put these things back. You can’t just take things, especially medicine, when you don’t know what they are.” She moves Alex back from the counter and begins collecting the bottles that the girl had pulled out and checking their labels.

Once the counter is cleaned up, Morgan grabs the bottle in Alex’s hand and reads the label. To her surprise, it appears to be some sort of aphrodisiac. _How the hell did this get in here?_ Morgan thinks to herself. _Probably H…_ She sighs and shakes her head, then sticks the bottle in the very back of the cabinet.

Morgan then turns to the medical bot. “MARIA, Override Protocol Two,” she commands. “Is Dmitri stable?”

“Affirmative. Now accepting orders from user: Morgan. What do you require?”

“Alex needs to relax,” Morgan explains, gently leading the other girl in front of her. She doesn’t want to worry Alex, so she silently communicates the gravity of the situation to MARIA through her datajack. _Please, please, just keep her sedated for the next few hours._

MARIA takes some pill bottles from the cabinet and presses several tablets into Alex’s shaking hands. Thankfully, despite her trembling, Alex is able to swallow them without too much trouble.

“Why don’t you go back to your room?” Morgan suggests. “We’ll be out of here soon, I promise.” Morgan sees Alex back to her room, then leaves the girl to her business once she’s sure she’s okay.

As the pills start to take effect, Alex feels the trembling subside and she once again returns to working on her Pokeballs. However, once the medication takes full effect, the girl starts feeling rather drowsy and eventually drifts off to sleep.

* * *

As the _Helix_ travels deeper into the Void, the crew packs it in and prepares to deal with the possibility of warp madness. With Shane helming the ship on its warp voyage, Minerva returns to her room and settles into her sleeping pod. Armstrong, on the other hand, seeks the comfort of a bottle of whisky in his personal quarters.

H, meanwhile, lies unconscious on the floor of his lab, having neglected to seek medical attention after the crew’s encounter with the abomination in Mr. Silver’s hidden facility. He once again dreams of the majestic space Wailords, although fully aware of his unconscious state. H sails across the warp currents on a back of one of these Pokemon until he finds himself back aboard the _Helix_.

Now fully awake, but still perceiving reality as a dream, H leaps up from the floor and takes in his surroundings. He locks eyes with Dmitri, who had just walked into the room. “Aha!” H shouts to his Romanov crewmate. “Wonderful! To arms, my brother! We have great work to do! Away!” The delusional cyborg leaps up and attempts to bust through the ceiling, only to bash his head and fall back to the floor.

H jumps back to his feet and hurriedly exits the room. “I must be free!” he shouts. “I must rejoin them! They need my presence! We must save them from the devastation!” He makes his way to the bridge where he finds Shane steering the ship with his marked hand.

Hearing a noise behind him, Shane turns his head back and spots H stepping onto the bridge. “Hey, H,” he addresses his crewmate calmly.

“You have stood in my way for the last time!” H shouts in response. “Release me from this prison!” The crazed cyborg leaps forward at Shane and tackles him to the floor. The _Helix_ shakes violently as the ship is flung out of control into the Warp.

“Ha! Take this!” H shouts. “Belly-pogo augment Number D!” His belly-pogo flings out of his chest compartment with a boxing glove and clocks Shane in the face.

Dmitri, who had been following H, runs onto the bridge, and attempts to subdue H with his psionic abilities. However, the Romanov fails to stop him. H leaps back up, grabs Shane, and tosses him across the bridge. Shane quickly teleports himself behind his assailant to avoid crashing into anything.

“Where are you?!” H shouts in response. “Your silly mental tricks will not subdue me!” H turns to see Shane swing at him, his marked arm glowing a shocking shade of purple. Shane strikes H full force and sends him flying across the bridge.

Drawn by the _Helix_ ’s lurching, Morgan runs onto the bridge to see H slam into the wall, and fall back into unconsciousness. “What the hell is going on here?” she asks.

“H needs to be contained,” Shane tells her calmly, wiping a small trickle of blood from his lip. He then turns back to the main console and steers the ship back on course.

“Alright,” Morgan responds. She and Dmitri grab H by the legs and drag him off to the med bay for medical treatment. Before doing anything, the two of them make sure to restrain him, then Morgan gives MARIA strict orders to keep an eye on the cyborg.

* * *

Eventually, the _Helix_ arrives at the heart of the Void; a location that some of the crew had been once before. Recognizing the threat facing the Galaxy, Shane had brought the ship back here in hopes of making contact with Giratina once more.

Alex awakens in her room and stumbles to the viewport, still experiencing the effects of the sedatives Morgan had given her. She stares out into the Void and sees the face of a massive serpentine Pokemon wrapped around the ship. The devilish face of the creature would have been quite unsettling to the girl had she not been drugged up. “Woah…” is all she can say in awe of this Pokemon.

Having finished up in the med bay, Morgan decides to check up on Alex. She enters the girl’s room and sees her staring out the window at Giratina. Remembering her previous experience with this Pokemon, Morgan quickly rushes to Alex and pulls her away from the viewport. “Come on, you shouldn’t stare out into warp space like that,” Morgan tells her, recalling what happened to Arlon the last time they were here.

“But there’s a thing,” Alex protests, sounding rather loopy due to a blend of the sedatives and the early onset of warp madness. “I want to look at the thing.” Alex tries to resist Morgan, but does little more than squirm. Giratina turns its head away and looks off toward another part of the ship.

Morgan leads the girl outside the room and sits her down in the hallway. “Just stay here,” Morgan tells her. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.” She then runs off toward the bridge to speak with Shane.

As she makes her way down the hallway, Morgan sees Shane walk into the airlock and seal the door behind him. Morgan quickly runs to the door, where she sees Shane place his hand on the exterior airlock button, contemplating opening it. “Shane, what the hell are you doing?!” she shouts over the comms.

“You know how I’m the Gardener?” Shane asks Morgan calmly as he turns to face her. “Well, back on the station, when I saw that _monster_ … I remember everything… from before the sphere crashed… I remember _everything_ … from the moment _they_ created me.”

“But where are you going?” Morgan asks. “How does this help?”

“There are a few things that I _don’t_ remember,” Shane continues. “And one of them is creating this thing.” He points to the massive Pokemon flying around the outside of the _Helix_.

“But what are you doing?” Morgan asks him.

“You know, when you put it that way, I don’t really know,” Shane tells her. He opens the airlock and lets himself fall, directly at Giratina. The Pokemon flies past him and he turns to see it sitting in the airlock, despite it being far larger than the airlock itself.

Shane quickly teleports himself back into the airlock and shuts the door. Unfazed, Giratina warps itself onto the other side of the door. Shane just opens the door and follows it out.

As the Pokemon flies into the ship, it seems to warp the very space around it. Alex looks down the hallway and sees Giratina a very long distance away, longer than the hallway itself. Fascinated, Alex stands up and begins running toward it.

“Alex, don’t come over here!” Morgan shouts at her, but the words don’t seem to reach her as she remains fixated on the spatial distortions. Alex can’t seem to wrap her head around them.

Dmitri also begins stepping toward the Pokemon from the other direction, having just come around the corner. He finds himself across the space in an instant. Unlike Alex, Dmitri remains focused and realizes that Giratina is distorting space with its presence and tries to block that from his mind to keep himself sane.

Shane pokes Giratina with his branded hand and immediately captures the Pokemon’s attention. Giratina looks intently at Shane’s mark with a look of what he perceives to be confusion. It doesn’t seem to remember Shane, or the brand it had given him. Shane comes to the realization that the Pokemon doesn’t seem to have a concept of object permanence.

Shane creates a small ball of warp with his hand, and Giratina flies into the palm of his hand. Just looking at this is odd for Shane, as the Pokemon is still much bigger than him. As for the others, their brains are completely befuddled.

Shane slams an Ultra Ball into his hand, but it just phases inside of Giratina. Realizing that he has no real way of catching this Pokemon, Shane retracts his hand, pulling the ball back out. Giratina then turns away and starts flying down the hallway.

Alex sees the Pokemon flying directly at her and grabs onto one of the spikes protruding from its side. She swings herself up onto Giratina’s back as it continues to fly down the corridor. The hallways and elevator shafts seem to bend into a straight line as it moves toward the ship’s warp drive.

The others quickly run after Giratina, however, the hallway warps around them, leaving each of them stranded on a twisted and distorted path of walls, floors, and ceilings. Shane quickly kicks himself off the walls and keeps moving while Morgan and Dmitri take more time to wrap their minds around the situation.

Meanwhile, Giratina continues on toward the warp drive, and flies straight into the exposed warp reaction. Alex remains on the Pokemon’s back, gripping it tightly, too frightened to even let go. She cries out in pain as the warp field envelops her.

“Alex!” Shane shouts as he runs into the room. He quickly uses his power to swap his position with the girl, safely pulling her out of the Warp and leaving himself riding on the back of Giratina.

The space around Shane begins to warp and distort at an increasing rate and he becomes aware of what the Warp actually is. It _is_ Giratina, and Giratina is Space itself. He realizes that Giratina is the sole reason that all warp technology works; why _Space_ works.

Shane places his marked hand on top of Giratina’s head and it sparks some kind of reaction. He can feel even more power flowing through him. He kicks himself off of Giratina and launches himself back onto the floor, outside of the Warp reaction. “Well, that wasn’t quite what I was expecting, but thanks, Giratina,” he says aloud. The ship, for the most part, has returned to some semblance of euclidean normality. Shane then turns, takes two steps, and arrives back on the bridge.

Shane places his hand back on the console, and begins affecting the Warp around the _Helix_. The ship begins rapidly ascending through the layers of warp space and emerges right on the surface of the planet Vandia. The _Helix_ tears across the very same cabbage field it crashed in two months ago, and grinds to a halt.

Shane reaches for the comms. “Ladies and gentlemen, the _Helix_ has landed.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Talk about mindfuckery. The laws of Space don’t apply in the Void. Especially not with Giratina, which apparently has an almost infantile mind. For those who don’t know, Object permanence is the notion that once an object has left one’s field of vision, it still exists despite not being visible, a notion that seems to be lost on Giratina since it doesn’t remember branding Shane around thirty chapters ago. It was a pretty cool revelation that Giratina is the force of Space and the Warp itself. And it's also an indicator that the GM really made a lot of this game up as he went along and then went back to try to make it all make sense later. He's actually said that if he planned it all out, Giratina would have been Palkia and Darkrai would have been Giratina. We also learned that the laws of Space are more like guidelines than anything. This half of the session was mostly fun RP stuff. No combat or anything. The funniest part is when the GM rolled a d100 to determine what random bottle Alex pulled out of the cabinet and got a 69, which is why it ended up being an aphrodisiac. Gotta love dice rolls. So yeah, Shane got more fun warpy powers! Hopefully they will help us against the Mewtwos! And now we’re back on Vandia, because why not?


	68. Volume 3, Chapter 3: Familiar Faces

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Helix crew meets up with an old contact bearing bad news.

“What are we doing back here? And what the hell just happened?” Morgan asks.

“We’re here because it’s not where we were,” Shane explains to the crew, who had reconvened on the bridge. “It is very far away from where we were. I wanted to get us as far away from the fleet as possible, and there was no way I was going to take us into Romanov Space. So, that’s why we’re back here on Vandia.”

“That’s just great,” H complains. The cyborg is once again conscious and back to his normal self. “We’re back on this worthless planet.”

“ _Hey_ ,” Alex protests. “I grew up here you know!”

“Exactly,” H fires back.

“Moving on,” Shane interrupts their bickering. “As for what just happened… I got what I was looking for by going to see Giratina, so I decided we didn’t need to be there anymore.”

“So, it’s gone now?” Morgan asks, referring to Giratina.

“Yes. It stayed behind in the Void,” Shane tells her, but he doesn’t seem too sure of his answer.

“Are you sure?” Morgan asks. “ _Is it on the ship?_ ”

“This is going to sound like Sinai bullshit,” Shane warns. “But it is _literally_ everywhere at once. Giratina and its power is Space itself. It has _always_ been on this ship.”

“But is that _thing_ going to mess up our ship?” Morgan asks.

“No,” Shane responds.

“That’s all I wanted to know.”

“Well, this is all really cool and all,” Alex speaks up. “But if we’re here, I want to go home and get my stuff since you didn’t let me take anything with me last time.”

“That’s because you snuck onto the ship and started breaking my stuff,” H berates her.

“I didn’t break anything!” Alex shouts back. “You’re just a stupid asshole!” With that, she storms off the bridge and departs from the ship.

“Hey, come back here! Don’t run off!” Morgan yells after her, but it’s too late; Alex is already well on her way.

“She’ll be fine,” Shane tells Morgan comfortingly.

“And that is precisely why we should leave this planet now,” H chimes in.

“No, H,” Morgan responds sternly. “She’s part of this crew now. We’re going to wait for her.”

* * *

Alex runs across the familiar plains of her home planet and soon finds herself standing outside the crashed half ship that she used to call home. Memories of all the time she spent alone here begin to pour out as she steps inside. It looks exactly how she left it two months ago when she left.

“It’s like I never left…” Alex says aloud as she looks around her room. She sighs, then begins to search for a box amongst all the scattered trinkets and Pokeball parts. “Where did I put that stupid crate? Aha, there!”

Alex runs over to the far corner of her room and pulls a large metal box out from underneath a pile of junk. She then begins to load it up with Pokeballs, Pokeball parts, and as many of her personal effects as she can.

Alex pauses a moment as she picks up a holo-frame from her desk. The image springs onto the screen at her touch; it displays a picture of her with the girl who had once been the most important person in her life. “Naomi… I miss you,” she says as she looks at it. A flood of happy and sad memories runs through her mind. “If only you could see me now…”

Alex tosses the frame into the box and returns to packing. Once she has everything she wants in the box, she grabs a Pokeball modified for storage off her work table and presses the button against the side of the box. The ball pulls the box and its contents inside, then Alex places it in her bag.

The girl takes one last look around before leaving once again. As she walks down the corridor, Alex feels a strange throbbing sensation in the back of her mind. She shakes her head back and forth, trying to clear her thoughts, but it doesn’t help.

 _That Giratina thing must have messed with my head_ , she reasons, recalling the spatial distortions in the Void. _I’m glad I’m back in a place where things make sense and this 9.38 meter hallway is actually 9.38 meters…_ “Why do I know that?” Alex asks herself aloud.

Confused, Alex exits the crashed ship and begins to head back to the _Helix_. On her way she’s plagued by precise numbers and measurements. The perpetual sunset of this part of Vandia casts long shadows across the ground. _My shadow is 2.7615 meters long right now_ , Alex determines just by looking at it. _That blade of grass is 13.2 centimeters long, and that one is 12.1, and that one is 10.6, and that tree is 9.18 meters tall, and that fence is 1.05 meters high._

“What’s happening to me?”

* * *

Back on the bridge of the _Helix_ , the crew discusses their next course of action. However, they immediately stop when they see Alex return with a very confused look on her face.

“You okay, Alex?” Shane asks.

“I… don’t know,” the girl responds. “Like… I know how big everything is. It’s weird.”

“Alright, now you’re starting to confuse me,” Shane tells her. “What are you talking about?”

“Just by looking at things, I know their size,” Alex tries to explain. “Like, you’re 1.794 meters tall, and your eyes are 24.2 millimeters wide, and your shortest eyelash is 7.4 millimeters and your longest one is 7.9, and-”

“That’s creepy,” Shane cuts her off.

“But why do I know that?!” Alex asks.

“But how do we even know if that’s true?” Morgan asks incredulously.

“Why would I make this up?” Alex asks her back.

“Quickly, we must test this!” H shouts. He rapidly begins quizzing Alex on the dimensions of each of his augmentations, and every time she gets the measurements exactly correct. “Fascinating. Now, try this. Tell me where this would bounce to.” The cyborg pulls out a bouncy ball and hold its up.

“I don’t know,” Alex tells him. “I can’t tell how hard you’re throwing it.”

“Hmm, that’s an unfortunate limitation but… I know you have never said yes to this, but if I could give you a brain implant like the others, this could be an incredibly useful tool.”

“No way! You’re not getting anywhere _near_ my brain!”

Morgan smacks H on the back of the head. “What was that for?” H asks. “This could be useful to us.”

“Whatever the hell is happening-” Shane starts to say.

“What’s happening is we could finally have a use for her,” H interrupts. This time Shane smacks H on the back of the head.

“As I was saying,” Shane continues. “Whatever is happening to you, I’m pretty sure I know why.” He summons a sphere of warp energy in his hand. “You were only in that warp reaction for a few seconds, but it must have affected you somehow.”

Before they can discuss things further, Minerva walks onto the bridge and plops herself into the pilot’s seat. “You derps have a missed call, by the way,” she says. She brings it up on the screen. “Huh, it’s the same callsign as before.”

“What do you mean 'before?'” Morgan asks.

“This guy called during the conference. Said he needed to talk to you about something important.”

“Did he say what his name was?” Shane asks the pilot.

“Aarn something? Honda? Hondo? Something like that.”

“What did he want?” Morgan asks, recalling Aarn Hondo, the smuggler the crew had met on the Outer Rim world Erebus shortly after acquiring the _Dunsparce_.

“I don’t know,” Minerva responds. “You’ll have to listen to the message.”

Shane walks up to the console and starts the message. The face of Aarn Hondo appears on the viewscreen. “Hello, my name is Aarn Hondo, I gave you your warp drive, if you’ll recall. I have been trying to reach you for a while now. Gilgamesh asked me to speak with you. There are important things we must discuss. Meet me at these coordinates.” The message ends, displaying a set of coordinates back in Alliance space.

“I guess we’re going back to Alliance space,” Shane says. He places his marked hand on the console and blips the ship back into warp space.

* * *

“What do you even need me for anymore?” Minerva quips as Shane drops the _Helix_ out of warp space at the coordinates provided by Hondo.

“Well, we still need someone to fly the ship when we’re not warping around,” Shane responds as he gazes out the front viewport at the large military station they just arrived at. The words "OmniGuard Industries" are displayed across its surface between the massive gun installations. The heavy cannons track the _Helix_ as it approaches.

Shane hails the station and Hondo appears on the viewscreen. “Hello, my friends,” the smuggler greets them. “I’ve been trying to reach you.”

“Yeah, we just got your message,” Shane responds.

“I see. Well, you certainly wasted no… _time_ in getting here.” A strange expression appears on his face at the mention of the word.

“Anyway,” Shane says. “In your message you mentioned that this was important.”

“Yes, yes,” Hondo replies. “Why don’t you dock? We should speak in-person.” The smuggler transmits docking instructions as he speaks.

Minerva flies the _Helix_ toward the designated docking tube and connects with the station. The crew steps off the ship to find Hondo waiting for them. “Hello, my friends,” Hondo says to them, motioning them to come closer. “Welcome, welcome.”

“You spoke to Gilgamesh recently?” Dmitri asks. “How is he doing?”

The smuggler captain hangs his head a bit. “I’m afraid he didn’t make it.”

“What do you mean ‘he didn’t make it?’” Morgan asks. “Make it from where?”

“We… have a lot to talk about.”

* * *

“You let him die?!” Morgan screams at Hondo as she slams her fist down on the holotable. The smuggler captain had just briefed the crew of the _Helix_ on his recent mission with Gilgamesh, one that had cost the Sinai monk his life. “Don’t you realize he’s the only one who knows anything about this?!”

“He seemed to believe that _you_ knew about it as well,” Hondo replies calmly. The smuggler captain looks around the room at the crew. “Maybe even more than him. I’ll be honest with you, I don’t know half of what went on in that man’s head, but… he seemed to regard you all as our last hope.”

“That’s certainly a compliment,” Shane offers.

“Regardless, did he at least die for _something?_ ” H asks.

The Alliance paramilitary commander who had introduced himself as Rodriguez steps up to the holotable. “He died so that we could escape,” he answers. “So that we could tell you.”

“Well, great job,” H replies sarcastically. “You didn’t even acquire the thing you went there to get.”

“No,” Rodriguez responds. “But we know where it is at least.”

“You know where it _was_ ,” H corrects him. He is not impressed.

The commander seems confused. “What do you mean?”

“How do you know it’s still there now?” Dmitri clarifies. The look on Rodriguez’s face makes it quite obvious that he had not even considered that possibility.

“So, in essence, you discovered a powerful artifact that could potentially solve the issue of the entire Galaxy being destroyed,” H berates the commander. “And then you decided to sacrifice one of the smartest men in the Galaxy, who knew how to use that resource, then said ‘welp, that sucks’ and _left_.”

“We didn’t really have any other options,” Rodriguez tells him.

“Well, you’re useless,” H responds. He raises his hands and prepares to fire a blast of electricity at the commander.

Without hesitation, both Rodriguez and Hondo aim their weapons at H. Shane quickly runs over to diffuse the situation and forces H’s arms down. “No, H, these are our friends,” he tells the cyborg coldy.

“How?” H asks angrily.

“They’re the only ones who know where that thing-” Morgan starts.

“ _Used to be_ ,” H interrupts, his rage growing.

“They still know more than we do,” Shane tells him.

“Fine,” H responds. “It’s better than no lead at all.”

H cuts the charge flowing to his weapons, but Rodriguez keeps his rifle firmly pointed right between the cyborg’s eyes. “Is there something you should tell us?” Shane asks the commander.

Rodriguez hesitates for a moment, then lowers his weapon. “Sorry,” he says. “We’ve all just been on edge. It’s been rough the past few weeks.”

“I’m sure accomplishing as much as you have has made it incredibly rough,” H grumbles sarcastically.

“Hey,” Rodriguez protests. He seems offended. “We’ve accomplished a lot, actually,” he tells the _Helix_ crew. “We have intel feeds inside, so don’t tell me we’ve been doing _nothing_.”

“Inside what?” Alex asks.

“Well, we’ve been on the run from Mr. Silver for the past few weeks,” Hondo explains. “We’ve had numerous encounters.”

“You mean he’s after you right now?” Morgan interrupts.

“Yes,” the smuggler tells her. “But we’ve done what we could to turn it to our advantage.”

“You should have started with that!” Morgan yells at him. “This place was never safe!”

As if on cue, a very advanced looking cruiser drops out of warp space near the station. “Ah, it looks like our friends have arrived,” Hondo says jokingly. “Right on schedule.”

“I see they sent the big one this time,” Rodriguez comments as he gazes out the viewport. “Excellent.”

“I don’t see how this is excellent,” Morgan says dryly.

“We’ve been waiting for this opportunity for a week,” the commander explains. “That’s the main ship, the one that’s coordinating the search.”

“So, why not blow it up?” Alex asks.

“We have reason to believe there is vital information on board,” Rodriguez tells the girl. “And it is very likely that our missing operative is being held there as well.”

Suddenly, the ship hails the station. Morgan quickly accepts the call and Shane appears on the viewscreen. “Hey guys,” he says. “I got tired of waiting.”

Rodriguez and Hondo both look at where Shane had been standing moments ago, then back to the screen with the same confused expression. “That’s one way of... rapid tactical entry,” the commander mutters to himself.

“What are you doing?” Morgan asks Shane.

“I’m infiltrating their ship where they can’t defend it,” Shane replies. “What does it look like?”

“Perfect,” says Rodriguez. “Our plan was to send in a small infiltration team. It looks like that’s going to be you. We’ll draw their fire while you sneak aboard.”

“I can open the hangar from here,” Shane suggests. “And you can fly across in an escape pod.”

“We have just the thing,” Hondo speaks up.

* * *

“It’s a little cramped for four people, but you’ll manage,” Hondo says as he shows the _Helix_ crew their method of entry: an escape pod he and Rodriguez had used to escape their previous mission.

“We’ll have to,” Morgan says as she climbs in. The rest of the _Helix_ crew follows her, then Rodriguez closes the hatch behind them.

The commander, in true military fashion, raps on the hatch a few times, signaling the all clear, then Hondo gives it a good kick through the ray shield guarding the hangar from the vacuum of space.

“We should have left a bomb behind to kill those idiots,” H comments as the escape pod drifts toward its target.

“What is _wrong_ with you?” Alex asks him.

“There’s no point in killing them,” Morgan adds. “Besides, we can still get some use out of them.”

“But that is exactly my point,” H counters. “They’re not going to be useful, so we should just kill them.”

“ _No killing_ ,” Morgan tells the cyborg harshly.

“Alright, guys, you should be all clear,” Shane says over the comms as the hangar begins to slide open. “I’ve caused a distraction on the opposite end of the ship, so the hangar should be empty.”

Laser fire flies around the escape pod as it nears the cruiser. The ship returns fire against the station, attempting to disable the heavy cannons. The pod narrowly avoids a missile just before it reaches the hangar.

“We’re in,” Morgan tells Shane over the comms as the pod grinds to a halt.

“Closing the door now,” Shane responds.

Once the hangar is sealed, the crew exits the escape pod and they take in their surroundings. The area appears to be devoid of any enemy presence, so they release their Pokemon and prepare to move to the next phase of the plan.

“Shane, send us the layout of the ship, then keep looking for the data we came here for,” Morgan says over the comms. “We’re headed for the brig first.”

“Got it,” Shane respons. “The system architecture is very secure, but I patched a map together for you using the security feeds. I’m uploading it to you now. I’ve marked the brig for you.”

The crew follows Shane’s map through a series of corridors until they come to an intersection of several hallways. “Hold on, I’m seeing someone with my x-ray vision,” H warns his crewmates.

“Where?” Dmitri asks.

“Third hallway on the right,” H answers.

“There’s no camera for that hall,” Shane informs the rest of the crew over the comms.

“No need,” H tells him. “We’ll just take him down. #1, go!” The cyborg fires a massive blast of electricity at his Rhyhorn, who then charges forward with sparks flying off him as he approaches the intersection.

A cybernetic man slowly walks around the corner, and collides with the charging Rhyhorn. He absorbs the electrical energy emanating from the Pokemon, and appears to increase in speed as he does so. He stylishly avoids the brunt of the attack, and stays standing. He brushes himself off then looks at the crew.

The resemblance is unmistakable. The sharp blue eyes and spiky blond hair. It’s H… but _not_. He speaks with an all too familiar voice, but the tone is different.

“Well, this is awkward.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that does it for the second chapter from the second session of Volume 3! To start us off, we got to deal with the fallout from that crazy Giratina business. And then we got to find out how Alex being exposed to the warp core effected her. She can now pretty much just look at anything and know it’s exact dimensions, as long as it’s within visual range. It’s actually a thing from the Legendaries expansion book. It’s what’s called a Legendary Gift. In this case, it’s the minor gift from Palkia, but in this setting it fits in with Giratina. Shane also got one of these this session, except he got a much better one from Palkia’s section of the book. As for what I got, in the book it’s limited to just within ten meters and only to the nearest centimeter, but I talked with the GM and we worked out that, in this game, Alex can apply this to anything within clear visual range, and to any decimal place. Over time, Alex will also get the ability to perceive angle measurements and, with practice, she will be able to do some math on the fly to ballpark how much force she would need to throw something, such as a Pokeball, to get it to bounce to a certain spot. This was so that this thing could actually be useful.
> 
> I also got to dig into Alex’s backstory here since I had actually written her origin story at this point. This is the first point where Naomi was mentioned in the main story. I sort of played off the fact that she never really came up as Alex being so caught up with all that's been going on and actually being able to finally make progress toward finding her father that Naomi was pushed to the back of her thoughts.
> 
> And then it was time to get to some major Volume 3 plot stuff. The plot of the GM's Spacemon mini-series Tempore Ex Machina has been revealed to the party! The time skip in the chapter where it was explained to the party felt very natural since it would’ve just been recap. All of us had read Tempore Ex Machina, so there was no point in RPing the recap, and then it didn’t make sense to write it here either.
> 
> We had to have a cliffhanger with no combat actually happening in the session since we were going to an event run by our school’s tabletop RPG club right after and couldn’t go really late like we used to.


	69. Volume 3, Chapter 4: Meta

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Helix crew battles against a new, yet familiar enemy.

“Well, this is awkward.”

“Is that…?” Shane’s voice sounds over the crew’s commlink. “But… what?”

Had he been there in person, Shane would have been drowned out by the sound of H’s voice, droning on a single sound. “ _Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh_.” The cyborg appears to be unable to process this scene.

Alex looks at the cybernetic man, then at H, then back to the man, then back to H once more. A confused expression is painted across the girl’s face.

“Who… _are you?_ ” Morgan finally asks.

The man’s lips form into a slight smirk. “I am Experiment #1749XQ221-I, but you may call me ‘I.’”

“So, you’re another one of those… things,” Morgan responds.

“Things is _such_ a negative word, but... _yes_.” I pulls out a Pokeball and looks at it for a moment before returning his focus to the crew.

“What are you doing here?” Morgan asks.

“This is my ship. Why wouldn’t I be here? No, I think the real question is, why are _you_ here? This isn’t your ship. I don’t remember inviting you.” He tosses the Pokeball up and down as he speaks. “So, why _are_ you here?”

“You’re here attacking some friends of ours,” Morgan responds. “And, we don’t _appreciate_ that.”

“Ah, yes. Of course. _Of course_.”

“No more talking!” Alex suddenly shouts. “Lumiera! Inferno!”  The girl’s Chandelure floats forward and unleashes a massive surge of flames at the cyborg, completely engulfing him.

As the flames roar around him, I raises a hand and a glow begins emanating from it. The flames begin to sparkle strangely, then glitch out of existence. To Shane, currently observing through the security feed, this looks all too familiar. “Oh, this?” I asks, turning to look directly at the camera. “You like it? I picked it up from some residue in Geneva. I believe... _you_ had something to do with that, actually,” he adds, tauntingly.

I throws his Pokeball out, releasing a heavily augmented Rhyperior. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have business to attend to. Omega, finish them.” He turns and begins to walk down the hallway. Shane attempts to hack the door to prevent I from leaving, but only succeeds at shutting the door behind the cyborg.

I’s Rhyperior looks at H’s Rhyhorn standing just next to it and fires up its drills. The large Pokemon charges through its pre-evolved form. Luckily, the durable rock Pokemon manages to stand up to the powerful hit. H quickly leaps to action and pulls out his Pokeball cannon. He loads up a pester ball and fires it at Omega, burning the Rhyperior right through its rocky hide and armor plating.

Alex locks eyes with the Rhyperior, giving the Pokemon a sad look with a baby-doll expression, causing it to hesitate momentarily. Both Dmitri and Morgan seize the opportunity to release their own Pokemon.

“Wilhelm, Shadow Ball!”  Dmitri commands his Haunter. The ghostly Pokemon builds up a ball of shadowy energy and lobs it at Omega, dealing another hit against it. Dmitri then attempts to follow up with an attack of his own, but his fails to connect.

“Yvonne, use Future Sight!” Morgan shouts to her Espeon. The Sun Pokemon peers into the future with her psychic abilities and preps an attack.

“Guys, I’m trying to get to you,” Shane’s voice sounds over the commlink. “It’s gonna take me a while to get through the mainframe. If you need me, you’re just going to have to wait a little while longer. I’m going as fast as I can.”

“Got it,” Morgan responds. She then quickly recalls her Espeon and sends out her Dewott, Herman.

“Lumiera, use Hex!” Alex commands her Chandelure. The Pokemon unleashes a massive blast of spectral energy at Omega, but the Rhyperior’s armor plating seems to deflect most of the hit. “Now, for Leviathan!” Alex recalls her ghostly chandelier and releases her most powerful Pokemon. Storm clouds radiate out from the massive creature as it emerges.

In response to this new threat, and to all the Pokemon and trainers closing in on it, I’s Rhyperior stomps down and rocks the entire ship with a powerful quake. Alex manages to dive out of the way of the brunt of the attack, but H, #1, Herman, and Leviathan are not so lucky.

“#1, use Chip Away!” H shouts to his Pokemon. The Rhyhorn picks himself back up and charges at Omega, however the Rhyperior moves out of the way, causing #1 to collide with the wall. 

Alex dives back from the attacking Pokemon and blows a kiss at it, temporarily distracting it, and sending it into a state of confusion. It stumbles to the ground, and appears to hurt itself in the process.

“Wilhelm, use Night Shade!” Dmitri commands his Haunter, attempting to capitalize on the situation. The ghostly Pokemon unleashes a blast of energy that tears right through Omega’s armor. Dmitri then fires off a hypnotic beam at the Rhyperior, making it drowsy. 

“Leviathan, use Water Spout!” Alex shouts as Omega sluggishly picks itself back up. Her massive Pokemon unleashes a torrent of water at the the Rhyperior, pushing it back into the wall.

“Herman, use Razor Shell!” Morgan commands her Dewott before I’s Pokemon gets the chance to shake itself off. Herman charges forward and critically strikes the Rhyperior with his shells, tearing through its armor plating.

In response, Omega vanishes from sight. “It’s got some kind of cloaking device!” H observes. A moment passes, then the Rhyperior reappears in the center of the action and unleashes another powerful quake, taking down Leviathan and Herman.

“No!” Alex shouts. She and Morgan quickly recall their Pokemon and send out Lucario and Espeon, respectively. As Morgan’s Espeon emerges for her ball, she unleashes the attack she had prepped, blasting the Rhyperior with psychic energy. 

H commands his Rhyhorn to move back, then fires off another shot from his cannon at Omega, delivering a powerful hit. He then follows up his attack by firing off a blast of caltrops, covering the ground around the Rhyperior. Alex taunts the Pokemon, causing it to stumble onto some of the caltrops and injure itself. Enraged, Omega charges at Yvonne and smashes the Espeon with its head, instantly knocking her out.

“Wilhelm, Confuse Ray!” Dmitri instructs his Haunter while Morgan recalls her fainted Pokemon. The gaseous ghost unleashes a blast of strange energy, sending the Rhyperior back into a state of confusion. Dmitri immediately follows up his Pokemon’s attack with a ghostly wisp of flame, burning Omega as well.

“Anubis, use Focus Blast!” Alex commands her Lucario. Anubis focuses his aura into a giant ball of energy and lobs it at Omega, dealing a heavy blow. The Rhyperior does not take kindly to this and fires up its rocket thrusters. It flies through the air directly at Alex and her Pokemon, completely surrounded in flames.

“Anubis!” Alex screams as her Pokemon moves in to defend her. The Lucario holds his paws out to counter the charging Rhyperior. He grunts in pain as the flames sear his paws, but Anubis fights through and redirects Omega’s momentum, hurling it over Alex’s head into the hallway behind her. The thunderous sound of the Rhyperior colliding with the ground echoes through the corridors as it goes down for the count.

Alex catches Anubis in her arms as the Lucario collapses, severely injured from Omega’s attack. The pained look in her Pokemon’s eyes brings tears to her own, but she knows that Anubis saved her life. She hugs him tightly and softly says, “It will be okay.”

Victorious, #1 lets out a mighty roar as he begins to glow. When the brilliant light fades, a Rhydon stands triumphant. Wilhelm too transforms, evolving into a Gengar.

* * *

With the battle won, the crew proceeds onward to the brig without any resistance. “I seems to have abandoned ship,” Shane informs them, observing one of the escape pods launching.

“Good,” Morgan responds. “Okay, we’re here. This seems to be the brig.”

Stepping inside, the crew finds the brig to be empty, save for a lone young woman imprisoned behind an energy shield. She sits on the floor and seems extremely _bored_. She looks up at the crew, but says nothing.

Using the security feed, Shane transmits an image of the girl to Hondo, who confirms that she is, in fact, his missing operative. “Ha, she made it!” the smuggler adds. “She’s alive after all.”

H steps forward, and receives a very confused glance from the girl. “Do you happen to know two fools by the name of Aarn Hondo and Samuel Rodriguez?” he asks her.

“Yes,” she responds.

“They apparently need you,” H explains. “Hopefully it will help them _improve_ their current condition. Come on, we’re getting you out of here. Don’t waste anybody’s time by staying.”

“How do I know I can trust you?”

“You don’t, but we are opening the door, and we aren’t pointing guns at you.”

“He’s an idiot, but he’s no I,” Morgan says. The ship rocks from the battle raging outside.

“Well, clearly he’s not the same individual,” the girl comments, noting H’s distinct augmentations.

“Superior being,” H corrects her.

The girl gives him another glance, before continuing on. “Judging from the sounds of battle outside, and your mention of my former teammates, I can assume that you are... _probably_ friends.”

“You’re welcome to stay in this cell,” H tells her. “But you’re probably in more trouble there than following the random people who opened it.”

“True enough,” she agrees. “Now, I just need my things.” She eyes a nearby security box.

Morgan walks over and hacks the lock, and pulls out a Pokedex, some Pokeballs, and a bag. She then lowers the shield and tosses them to the girl.

“Thanks,” she responds as she begins fiddling with her Pokedex. “I’m Meta, by the way,” she adds. “Who are you?”

“I’m Morgan, and this is Alex, Dmitri, and-”

“And I am Experiment #1749XQR5Z-H,” H interrupts.

“We just call him H,” Dmitri adds.

“I see. So, how about we get out of here?”

“We still need to get that information,” Alex tells her.

“Can you be a bit more specific?” Meta asks as she begins fiddling with her Pokedex again. “If you want my help, I need specifics. What kind of information are we talking here?”

“I don’t know,” Alex tells her. “Rodriguez only said ‘vital information.’”

“ _Of course_ he did,” Meta responds dryly. “Do you have him on the line now? Tell him to put Hondo on the line because he’s an idiot. And… well, don’t tell him I said that.”

“Hondo, you there?” Shane asks over the commlink.

“Yes, what is it?” the smuggler’s voice responds. “Things are getting a bit _heated_ over here so make it quick.”

“Rodriguez neglected to mention what sort of information we’re looking for here.”

“Routes, base locations, that sort of thing. We need to know where they took the Eye.”

“Then we want the communications center,” Meta tells the crew once they pass this on to her, scanning her Pokedex.

“And where’s that?” Alex asks.

“This way.”

* * *

The team quickly makes their way to the communications center without encountering any crew. The ship is surprisingly empty. One inside, Meta plugs in and begins to do her thing. “So, you didn’t say exactly what locations you- ah, fuck it, I’ll just grab everything.”

Inside the system, Shane sees the super-hacker’s probes scouring the network and grabbing _everything_. “Damn, she’s good,” he says to himself.

“Alright, that should do it. Now let’s get out of here,” Meta says once she finishes. “I _assume_ you have a way off this ship.”

“In the hangar,” Morgan tells her.

As the crew makes their way back to the hangar, Hondo’s voice sounds over the comms. “Our systems are shutting down,” he tells them. “I think we’ve been sabotaged. We’re not going to last much longer unless we jump now. You’ll need to get back to your ship on your own, and I will contact you with a rendezvous point later.”

“Got it,” Shane responds. “Morgan, I’m jumping into your Pokedex now,” he adds. “That way you can all fit in the escape pod.”

The crew quickly arrives at the hangar and they begin boarding the pod, but it becomes apparent that there isn’t a whole lot of room. “I don’t think we’re all going to fit in here,” Meta observes.

“Nonsense!” H declares. He magnetizes himself to the ceiling of the pod, making a bit more room. Alex follows suit, and squishes herself into a corner. “See, there is plenty of room!” H says to Meta. Dmitri and Meta cram themselves into the remaining space while Morgan fires up the engines.

Shane hacks the hangar door to slide open, allowing Morgan to fly the pod out into space. Morgan hails the _Helix_ and signals for Minerva to pick them up.

“Someone’s leg is in my face,” Meta comments as the pod drifts away from the battle.

“Well, _your_ face is in _my_ leg,” Alex retorts.

“Hmm. Well, at least your feet don’t smell… too bad.”

“ _Hey_ ,” Alex responds as Minerva swoops in with the _Helix_ , allowing Morgan to fly the pod into the cargo bay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, it’s about freaking time H’s Rhyhorn evolved. Seriously. What took so long? We got a massive EXP dump from that battle, allowing us to get a lot of our Pokemon up to level 40, something that’s needed to happen for a long time. We were very underleveled for where we were in the campaign. I’s Rhyperior was pretty hardcore, but we beat it. My Lucario barely hung in there for that counter. He legitimately had 1 HP left and straight up dealt 158 damage to that Rhyperior in one go. MVP. That more than made up for my Kyogre getting focused down like that.
> 
> And, of course, now we’ve met Meta from the GM's mini-series Tempore Ex Machina. She didn’t get a whole lot of time to shine here, but this only covered the first half of this session, so look forward to seeing more of her in the next chapter.


	70. Volume 3, Chapter 5: I Spy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Distrust permeates the Helix in light of recent events.

INTERCEPTED TRANSMISSION  
>I FIND MYSELF IN NEED OF A NEW ASSISTANT  
>>ERROR: CORRUPTION DETECTED  
>VERY WELL THEN. YOU MUST DEMONSTRATE YOUR LOYALTY BY DELIVERING THE ITEMS I HAVE OUTLINED  
>>IT WILL BE DONE  
>THAT REMAINS TO BE SEEN. REMEMBER TO COME ALONE  
END TRANSMISSION

* * *

Safely back aboard their ship, the crew of the _UAS Helix_ and their new passenger slowly pull themselves out of the escape pod. It takes a while, but, eventually, they manage to get out.

Now that there is enough room, Shane jumps out of Morgan’s Pokedex and rematerializes. Meta looks at him with a very confused, but intrigued, expression on her face. “Weren’t there only five of us in there?” she asks.

“Nobody said we were the most normal batch of rescuers,” H tells her.

“This might come as a shock, but I’m able to go inside computers,” Shane explains.

Meta gives him a look that can only be described as envious. “And _how_ do you do this?” the hacker asks.

“You see, it’s kind of hard to explain,” Shane tells her. “Partly, because I’m an AI.”

“ _Really?_ ” Meta asks. She seems very interested now. “Fascinating. And you can go inside machines?”

“Yes, I can.”

“Any computer?”

“So far, that I’ve encountered, yes.”

“Pokedex,” Meta continues. She seems to be thinking out loud more than asking Shane about his capabilities. “Ship mainframes. Cybernetic augmentations.”

“Haven’t tried that,” Shane interrupts. “And, honestly, there’s nobody here that I would be willing to try that with.”

“Alright. You’re not into that. I get it. Are you even into _that_ sort of thing?”

“Honestly, I don’t even know what you’re talking about,” Shane tells her.

Meta just shrugs and looks around. “Nice ship you’ve got here,” she says. “Who wants to give me the tour?” Her eyes fall back on Shane.

“I’ll do it,” Morgan volunteers.

* * *

“So, here’s the bridge,” Morgan says as she walks up behind Minerva with Meta in tow. “And this is our pilot.”

“Hi, I’m Meta,” the hacker introduces herself.

“Minerva,” the pilot responds.

“Hey, Minerva, after we drop out of warp space, take us to a civilized planet,” Morgan instructs Minerva. “We need to purchase some supplies.”

“Well, we _are_ in Alliance space,” she replies. “That shouldn’t be very hard. All I need to do is jump to the nearest system.”

Morgan turns to leave, but Meta plops herself down in the co-pilot’s seat and begins chatting with Minerva. Morgan waits by the door, but listens in on the conversation. Meta seems quite interested in Minerva’s piloting skills, so the two end up talking for a long while. Eventually, Minerva’s condition comes up, and Meta once again seems very interested.

After several more minutes, Meta finally gets up and heads for the door. “Shall we continue?” she asks Morgan, briefly glancing in her tour guide's direction.

“Alright,” Morgan answers.

From the bridge, Morgan leads Meta to the living quarters. Meta pokes her head into the various rooms, but she seems rather bored. “So, what about the labs?” she asks. “I’m sure they’re much more _interesting_.”

“I guess we can go there next,” Morgan tells her.

The pair heads down to the lower level of the _Helix_ and Morgan shows Meta to some of the labs. They first pass the Pokeball workshop and Armstrong’s lab before winding up back in the cargo hold.

“That area over there is all H’s lab space,” Morgan says, pointing to a hallway on the starboard side of the ship. “So, we’re not going to go there.”

“I see,” Meta responds. “And what’s over there?” she asks, eyeing the matching hallway on the port side.

“Just Shane’s warp lab,” Morgan tells her. “And an empty room Dmitri wants to use for… _something_.”

Without being prompted, Meta starts heading in that direction. Morgan follows her a few steps behind. The hacker walks into the empty room adjacent to the warp lab and looks around. “Is this room in use?” she asks.

“No,” Morgan tells her.

“And, it’s right next to the warp lab, you say?”

“Well, yeah, but-”

“Great!” Meta says enthusiastically as she drops her bag on the floor.

“We were planning on using this room for something,” Morgan finishes her sentence with a hint of annoyance.

“Like what?” Meta asks.

“Like a training room.”

Meta peers at Morgan with a look of suspicion in her eyes. “A larger room would be a more appropriate choice for a training room, don’t you think?” she asks. “Is that _really_ what this is all about?”

“It’s not really any of your business,” Morgan tells her.

“Whatever,” Meta responds. “But my point still stands. This would make a horrible training room. So, can I have it or not?”

“Well, I really didn’t think you’d be staying,” Morgan tells her. “I assumed you’d be rejoining Hondo and Rodriguez.”

“The rendezvous isn’t for _another week_ ,” Meta points out. “And I’m not gonna sleep in a hallway.”

“We have extra beds in the crew quarters,” Morgan says sternly.

Having heard the two women arguing through the wall, Shane teleports himself from the warp lab into the room. Meta doesn’t seem to be phased at all by his sudden appearance. “There’s also my old room,” Shane tells her. “I spend all my time in the warp lab, so it’s practically empty, except for the bed.”

“And that’s a room upstairs?” Meta asks him.

“Yeah,” Shane answers. “Right next to Morgan’s”

“Oh, _joy_ ,” the hacker says sarcastically as she looks over at Morgan. “Well, I like being around labs and tech, personally.”

“Well, this is our ship,” Morgan tells her. “And, as a member of this crew, I am telling you to stay in the living quarters.”

“I have to agree with Morgan on this,” Shane adds.

“ _Fine_ ,” Meta resigns. “But, in the meantime, shall we continue the tour?”

“I suppose I can show you the warp lab,” Shane tells her.

He leads them next door and Meta looks around. She seems quite interested. “ _Oooh_ , fancy,” she says as Shane activates the small warp drive in the center of the room. “Genevan model?”

“Yup,” Shane tells her as he reaches out his marked hand to the newly created warp sphere. The mark begins to glow and the sphere begins moving around the room.

“This is _fascinating_ ,” Meta reacts. “I’d love to get some data on this,” she continues as she pulls out her Pokedex. “Do you mind?”

“Might I ask what sort of data you’re looking for?” Shane asks her warily.

“I’ve just never seen a warp drive this small,” Meta explains. “I’d love to understand how it works. Especially since you don’t normally see warp drives doing non-ship-related activities. I don’t think one’s ever been pushed in quite this way, at least, not that I’m aware of.”

“Right, I did have to customize it a bit after we got it,” Shane tells her. “To be quite honest, I’m not really sure what I did. I just sort of took it apart and put it back together.”

“I could help with that.” Meta motions to her Pokedex with her eyes. “May I?”

“Sure, go ahead.”

Shane continues to play around with the Warp while Meta records data from the drive. Occasionally, the hacker comments on some of the readings. She looks on with interest as Shane creates a stable portal using his recently acquired knowledge. Shane throws a Pokeball through one end, and it flies out another.

“ _Fascinating_ ,” Meta comments as she pokes her finger through the portal. “Can you  put one on the ceiling and one on the floor and create infinite acceleration?”

“I can try,” Shane tells her. He aligns the portals, then throws the Pokeball in again. The ball falls through the portals repeatedly, gaining momentum until it reaches terminal velocity.

“If you drained the air from the room, it could accelerate infinitely,” Meta comments. “And then you could try to find a way to power the drive with this. Infinite energy.”

Shane relocates one of the portals, deliberately causing the Pokeball to fly out and smash into Meta’s face. “Ow!” Meta shouts. “What the hell?!” She puts a hand up to her now-bleeding brow. “What the hell?! The last I checked, infinite energy was a _good_ thing.”

“It may not actually _be_ infinite,” Shane tells her. “It takes a lot of energy, both from the warp drive and myself, to maintain something like that.”

“Well, you _didn’t_ need to hit me _in the face_. You guys are mean. I’m gonna go tour with someone else.”

* * *

In the cargo bay, Alex and her Lucario train together using the Sinai method she had learned during her time in the monastery back on Vandia. The two move together in unison, like flowing water. Usually it was a calming, if exhausting, experience, but not today. Today she was training more ferociously than ever. Because of I. And H.

 _They just **have** to be connected_, she thinks. _If I is evil, that means H is too. That’s why he tried to kill me. I could be controlling him somehow, like a hivemind or something. And he was snooping around in the med bay before. What if he’s trying to kill us?_

“Hey,” a voice sounds behind her, but she doesn’t hear. Alex turns and extends her arm and narrowly misses striking Meta in the face with her open palm. “Woah, watch it,” the hacker responds, taking a step back.

“Uh, hi,” Alex greets her. She lowers her arm, then wipes the sweat from her forehead. “What do you want?”

“Well, some people here are very mean,” Meta tells her. “I’m hoping you’re not.”

Alex notices a cryo-bandage on the girl’s forehead. “You mean H?” she asks her. “He’s a jerk. He did that to you, right?”

“Actually, your friend Shane thought it would be a good idea to launch a Pokeball out of a portal at my face,” meta tells her. Alex snorts out a laugh.

“Oh, come on, that’s not fair,” Meta responds. “What if H did that to you?”

“I would punch him in the face,” Alex tells her.

As if on cue, H emerges from his lab and begins walking through the cargo bay. Alex gives him a death stare as he passed. “Yes?” he asks, noticing the girl’s expression.

“What do you want, Murderface?” Alex asks in return.

“To know why _you_ have a murderface,” H tells her.

“What? _You’re_ the Murderface! Not me!” Alex shouts.”You just want to kill everyone!”

“ _Eventually_.”

Meta just rolls her eyes.

“But, _why?_ ”

“So that we can attain ascension. You either move forward, or get left behind.”

“You’re just as bad as the _other_ you!”

“Well, I’m a lot like I in many ways,” H responds. “But, at the same time, he tried to kill you and I haven’t.”

“ _But you did!_ ” Alex shouts even louder. “Anubis, get him!” Her Lucario runs up and attempts to punch H in the face, but the cyborg quickly maneuvers out of the way.

“Woah, woah, woah!” H shouts. “Use your words! We don’t need to tear apart half the ship!”

“You think he’s in league with I?” Meta asks. “Like a spy or something?”

“Yeah!” Alex responds. “He came from the same place as I! I could be controlling him through a clone hivemind!”

“ _Okay_ … I’m just gonna _go_ now,” Meta says awkwardly. She slowly backs away and exits through one of the doors. “You two have fun…”

“You should at least know what you’re talking about before you try to discriminate,” H tells Alex. “I at least did my research.” His lab coat swishes as he turns and walks out of the room.

* * *

Dmitri sits on the floor of the empty room he intends to use to study his connection to Darkrai, contemplating his abilities. While he doesn’t have the necessary equipment to fully study his powers, the Romanov researcher realizes that he can still mess around with them to see if he can gain a better understanding of them.

He casts out his aura and feels it radiate outwards. However, over time, it slowly begins to decay and shrink back into him. After several tries yielding the same result, he comes to a realization. _What if that’s what it’s supposed to do?_ he asks himself. _It must be connected to decay somehow._

Dmitri continues to experiment with his abilities, and slowly begins to understand them. Through various tests, he is able to determine that Darkrai is somehow linked with the forces of Entropy. The Romanov recalls that Shane said that Giratina is Space itself, and suspects that Darkrai might be something similar.

Whatever connection that had been forged between himself and Darkrai during their dream battle had granted Dmitri the ability to apply this Entropy on a psychic level. With this understanding, Dmitri now feels that he can better apply his power, and not wind up in another situation similar to his attempted interrogation of Dr. Jeremiah on the station where Shane was created.

* * *

Upstairs on the bridge, Shane walks in and plops himself down in the co-pilot’s seat. “So, where’re we headed?” he asks Minerva.

“Harmonia, home to a bunch of shady corporations and one of the largest malls in all of Alliance Space,” the pilot responds.

“Need any help getting there?” Shane asks.

“Sure, why not? All yours.”

Shane glances at the navchart, then places his hand on the console and blips the ship quickly through warp space into orbit around Harmonia. “Just leave the ship in orbit for now,” he tells Minerva. “We’ll land when the crew is ready.”

“You got it, boss.”

* * *

Back in the cargo bay, Alex struggles with training, distracted by her confrontation with H earlier. Something about the way H has been acting since they escaped I’s ship has been bothering her. The thought that H might be collaborating with I continues to eat away at her.

 _I wonder if Doc knows anything_ , she thinks. She recalls her Lucario, then heads off to Armstrong’s lab.

On her way, Alex passes H, who gives her an annoyed glance. Alex tries to ignore him and proceeds on to Armstrong’s lab.

“Hey, Doc,” Alex says as she walks into the room. She sees the man sitting in a chair, holding a bottle of whisky. She had seen enough movies to know that he is clearly a bit drunk. He starts babbling about something, but she can’t really tell what he’s talking about.

“Hey, listen,” She tells the scientist, and he snaps to some sort of attention.

“Yes, what is it?” Armstrong asks.

“Do you think I could be controlling H somehow? Like, a clone hivemind or something?”

“Hiveminds… Hmm… Interesting.” Armstrong begins rambling semi-coherently, theorizing a potential hivemind society.

“ _No! No! No!_ ” Alex whines. “That’s not what I want to know!”

“Then… I’m sorry, what… were we talking about, again?”

“Is it possible that I is controlling H with, like, some clone mind power thing?” Alex asks.

“I wouldn’t say there’s any sort of link of control involved,” Armstrong tells her, this time sounding _very_ coherent. “That _probably_ couldn’t happen. But they _are_ similar. They were all cut from the same cloth. Who knows? I have no idea what kind of tech I has put inside his head since the last time I saw him. I cannot say for sure. Good luck!” He takes a large swig from the bottle, then waves Alex out of the room so that he can drink in peace.

Alex walks away with new determination. Armstrong’s words have all but confirmed her fears. In her mind, it is all too likely that I somehow has control over H. _I have to do something_ , she tells herself.

Looking around the hallway, Alex spots a metal bar lying on the ground. It appears to be a piece of the ship that must have been knocked loose by a battle, or maybe the time it crashed on Vandia. _This ends now_ , Alex thinks as she picks the bar up. She continues down the hallway in the direction she saw H going earlier.

* * *

Morgan steps into the med bay to tend to her Pokemon. Now that she is done giving Meta the tour, she finally has the time to do it. While waiting for the machine to heal her injured Pokemon, Morgan notices that someone had recently accessed the medical computer. Curious, she walks over to investigate.

After sifting through the computer system, Morgan finds that someone had  accessed and downloaded the medical records of every member of the _Helix_ ’s crew. “That’s odd,” she says to herself. Bothered by her discovery, Morgan collects her fully restored Pokemon and sets off for the security room on the upper deck.

 _It’s a good thing the Red Suns installed those security cameras_ , Morgan thinks as she enters the security room. She accesses the terminal and pulls up the feed for the med bay. Morgan rewinds the footage until she spots Meta accessing the medical computer.

Already distrustful of Meta, Morgan suspects that the hacker is the one who downloaded the medical records and plays the recording. However, the footage reveals nothing incriminating; Meta walks into the med bay, accesses the computer, then immediately walks to a cabinet, pulls out a cryo-bandage and proceeds to apply it to her injured forehead. The hacker then spends a few moments fiddling around on her Pokedex before walking out of the room.

Realizing that Meta is not the one who downloaded the medical records, Morgan rewinds the footage further until she sees someone else access the computer; this time, it’s H. Morgan hits the play button, then watches as H approaches the computer and looks up the medical records while occasionally glancing at Dmitri and Alex, who are also in the room.

 _What is he up to?_ Morgan thinks. She brings up the security feeds for the entire ship so she can locate H. Once she spots him walking through the cargo hold, Morgan exits the room and quickly descends to the lower deck.

“H!” Morgan shouts across the room once she spots the cyborg.

H stops and turns around to face her. “Yes?” he asks as she approaches.

“What the hell are you doing?” Morgan asks him forcefully.

“What do you mean?” H asks the young woman accosting him.

“Why did you download the medical records of the _entire_ crew?”

“I have a perfectly reasonable explanation.”

“I’m listening.”

* * *

“Holy shit, H, you can’t just do shit like that!” Morgan shouts after hearing the cyborg’s long, and complicated explanation.

“Why not?”

“First of all, that Kadabra doesn’t belong to you,” Morgan tells him.

“Yes, and I never said I would take it.”

“But you said I wanted it.”

“But I never said that I would. If someone tells you to shoot a pedestrian, that doesn't mean you shot a pedestrian.”

“Well, then you are not guilty on _that_ count, but you _did_ take our navigation records, _and_ the medical records of everyone on this ship, and you’re just going to _give_ them to him?”

“Yes. Well, falsified records. But I can’t do that without the actual records.”

Before she gets the chance to respond, Morgan spots Alex running up behind H, carrying something in her hand, but she can’t quite tell what it is. “Alex, stop!” Morgan shouts, but the girl ignores her.

H quickly turns around to see a metal bar flying at his face. The cyborg is knocked right to the floor as his forehead explodes in pain from the impact. Alex lifts the bar to swing it again, but it is at this moment that Shane runs into the room and teleports her out of range. Dmitri is not far behind, having also been attracted by the commotion.

“What the _fuck_ is going on?!” Shane demands of his crewmates.

“He’s gonna kill us!” Alex screams wildly as she runs at H again. “He needs to die or he’ll kill us all!” This time, Shane teleports Alex to himself and restrains her with his arms.

“Alex, stop!” Morgan shouts at the girl. “Just stop!  We’re _talking_. We’re _just_ talking.”

“But he’s trying to kill us!” Alex cries desperately as she struggles against Shane.

“He’s not an idiot,” Morgan responds. “He told me the truth. He said he was gathering some data, because I asked him to, but… I never thought I’d say this, but I trust him. I don’t think he’s plotting against us.”

“You did _what_ , now?” Shane asks.

“Uuuuuuh,” H groans as he brings himself to his feet. “Look, after we met, I decided to reach out to him. Surprise, surprise, I wanted to know if the only other person who had survived from the lab actually wanted to do something. I don’t know what he’s up to, and I know everyone here’s not the best of friends with me, but I figured, when it comes to an apocalypse, having someone like _you_ is helpful when trying to combat it, so I did what anyone would do when encountering the last of their kind: I reached out to him, and we talked. He doesn't trust me, which makes sense. I haven’t trusted all of you for the longest time; I’m still working on it. But, hey, everyone’s gotta start somewhere. So, I figured I’d follow up on what he’s doing, give him everything that would make it so that he would help us, without actually hurting anybody... for once.”

“What exactly did you send him?” Shane asks.

“I’m getting to that,” H tells him. “He wanted four things: our nav computer, our psychic navigator, all our medical records, and, lastly, he asked for _all_ our research records for _everything_ we have done up to this point. Do you _really_ think I would give that to some random guy we just met, regardless of who he might be?! No. So, I decided the best plan was the falsify the records, _maybe_ take Kadabra out for a spin. But I wouldn’t do that without consulting Dmitri first, since he’s the only one on this ship who actually trusts me. I figured we give it over to him, and see if we can get him on out side. So, stop freaking out, and could you _please_ use your words for once, _Alex?_  Ugh, but nice shot.”

Shane cautiously lets go of Alex and grabs the metal bar out of her hand. He then walks over to H. “May I see your Pokedex?” he asks. H readily hands it over. Shane finds the medical records and looks them over. He looks specifically for basic metrics, then turns to Alex. “How tall is Morgan?” he asks the girl.

Alex looks at Morgan, and quickly determines her exact height. “1.6764 meters,” she tells Shane. It is the same value shown on H’s Dex.

“This information is correct,” Shane says.

“That’s because I haven’t falsified it yet,” H points out.

Shane sighs and hands the Pokedex back. “For the love of God, please do that before you send it.”

“It’s not like I’m sending him our private emails saying ‘hey, here’s all our sensitive data,’” H responds. “That’s idiotic and- Meta I know you’re listening!” he cuts himself off. Meta steps out from the hallway, having been in the other room speaking with Diane, the move tutor the crew recently hired. “From what I’ve heard, you’d be able to get in in a heartbeat,” H says to her.

“Did he ask you to send it, or _deliver_ it?” Meta asks.

“Deliver it,” H tells her.

“Right, because a simple electronic transfer wouldn’t be secure.”

“ _Exactly_. There’s no way I’m sending my research via _any_ sort of transfer like that.”

“Did he say _where_ to deliver it?”

“Yeah, but at the moment… Well, I guess we have to go there anyway. I’ve got the coordinates if anyone is willing to follow me there. The only problem: if he sees anyone, he’s going to flip.”

“So, the real question is: _do you believe him?_ ” Meta asks. “And, do you believe that I won’t see through falsified records?”

“They have to be _just_ true enough,” Morgan answers.

“Which is why I needed the true data in the first place,” H adds.

“If you don’t mind,” Shane speaks up. “When you make the exchange, I’d like to be there. If not  in person.”

“I might see that coming,” H tells him. “But if he would see that coming… that begs the question: why does he want our medical records? To know what our weaknesses are, perhaps.”

“I’m not so sure,” Meta chimes in. “You should always ask: 'what do you know, and why do you think you know it?’ It sounds to me like he _already_ knows a lot about you.”

“Then, why need the medical records at all?” Morgan asks.

“It’s a trust issue,” H offers.

“Can I see them?” Meta asks.

“No,” Morgan tells her firmly.

“Alright, then, I have no input.”

“I’ll let you see mine,” H tells her

“Okay,” Meta says as she takes H’s Pokedex and begins looking over his medical records. “It looks to me like the _most_ interesting thing here would be your most recent augmentations.” She highlights the technorganic modifications that Armstrong provided. “ _That’s_ something he might be interested in. That’s what _I_ would be interested in if I were him.”

“So, you’re saying he doesn’t really need all of our records,” Morgan says.

“He probably just wants access to our more… _abnormal_ data,” Shane offers, holding up his marked hand.

“Right, so now we just need to go about falsifying this information,” H says.

“How do we know telling us isn’t _part_ of his plan?” Meta asks, glancing over at H.

“All we need to do is make sure that the information is falsified,” Morgan tells her.

“But he still has the real information,” Meta points out.

“Then, we’ll just take it from him.”

“But, if I were him, my main concern would be: how do I get off this ship with all this stuff, _without_ you noticing? I would try covering myself with a false false plan.”

“But, if we make sure H doesn’t leave the ship with the real information, then his plan—if that _is_ his plan—fails,” Morgan tells her.

“If you trust your ability to ensure that doesn’t happen,” Meta counters.

“I do,” Morgan assures her.

“Well, I don’t,” Alex speaks up. “And I don’t think we can trust H either!”

“We can just take the information from him, and make sure he has no further hand in falsifying it,” Morgan offers.

“That’s not good enough!” Alex shouts. “You should have just let me kill him!”

“We don’t even know if he was going to betray us,” Morgan tells her.

“Of course he was!” Alex shoots back.

“Just calm down,” Morgan warns her.

“Killing him _is_ the best way to ensure I doesn’t get that data,” Meta points out.

“But, he’s probably our best chance at defeating I,” Dmitri counters.

“Well, that’s the conundrum, isn’t it?” Meta pauses for a moment to think. “Alright, we have two hypotheses,” she continues. “One is that H here is indeed our friend-”

“No he isn’t,” Alex cuts her off.

“Let me finish,” Meta tells the girl, sounding a bit irritated. “As I was saying, the first hypothesis is that H _is_ telling the truth. The second is that he’s _not_. If that is true, then the reason that he is telling us anything at all is most likely part of his plan. He has what he needs and just needs to find a way out. Can we all agree that that is the likely scenario?”

“Yes,” Morgan speaks for the group.

“Well, in that case, we have a way to test this,” Meta says. “He says he wants to get the psychic navigator… How do we know he doesn’t already have it? He could be trying to make his escape right now.”

“We can go to the drive, and see that it’s there, and that I don’t have it,” H tells her. “But that’s beside the point, because, if I have a secret objective, then I haven’t told you what it is yet. The Kadabra’s presence would prove nothing because my actual tasks may already be complete.”

“I still want to know if it’s there or not,” Morgan tells him.

“Let’s go then,” Meta says.

The group moves on to the warp drive only to find that Dmitri’s Kadabra is missing. “Where is it?!” Alex demands of H.

“I have no idea,” H says defensively. “But we know it was here recently.”

“What did you do with it?!”

“I do not have it,” H tells her. “Feel free to search me.”

“Very well,” Morgan says, walking over to the cyborg.

“Be very careful with the lab coat,” H warns her. “It contains a lot of volatile explosives.”

“I will be careful.” Morgan thoroughly pats H down, but she finds nothing incriminating. “He doesn’t have it,” she announces.

“Let me try reading him,” Dmitri offers. He raises his hand and casts out his mind. The Romanov begins to sift through H’s thoughts and determines that the cyborg does not have his Kadabra on his person.

“He’s not lying,” Dmitri announces.

Knowing that Dmitri cares for the wellbeing of his Pokemon, Morgan feels inclined to believe him. “Well, if he doesn’t have it, than who does?” she asks.

Alex quickly looks around at everyone and realizes someone is missing. “Wait… where’s Meta?” she asks.

Before anyone gets a chance to answer, Alex quickly runs back to the cargo bay to see Meta inside the escape pod, firing up the engines. “ _No!_ ” she screams as she reaches for a Pokeball.

The rest of the crew run into the cargo bay just in time to see the hacker wave tauntingly at them through the escape pod’s viewport. They all hear their Pokedexes beep, and pull them out to see a message from Meta.

**_What do you know, and why do you think you know it?_ **

As the cargo bay doors begin to slide open, Alex throws out her Pokeball. “Leviathan! Stop her! Use Thunder!” The massive Pokemon casts out a blast of lightning at the pod as it slides toward the doors. Sparks fly across the pod and the crew can hear a faint scream of pain within. Unfortunately, it is not enough; with several engines still intact, the pod flies into space and begins descending to the planet below.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This session occurred over three weeks before I finished this chapter. I had a ton of stuff to work on which pushed this way back. We actually met for two sessions after this one before this chapter was done. Not only did I not have a whole lot of time, but this chapter just took so long to write because of all the secret plotting!
> 
> Basically, the GM worked with a bunch of us to come up with secret plots. Basically how things developed before the session, the whole point of this session was to create a moment where we would have to decide who was the spy which had likely outcomes of either H’s player staying as H, or H being outed as a spy and he would then take over as Meta to change the party up a bit. So, both were spies and whoever we outed as the spy would leave and the other would end up with the party and no longer trying to betray us. In the end, Meta was the one who escaped with our information and left us with this cliffhanger! Additionally, the GM attempted to set Morgan after Meta by having Meta flirt with Shane a bit to make her jealous, and he and I also planned to have Alex go after H. Shane and Dmitri were just there to sow confusion! To top it all off, the GM was communicating with us in secret chat messages.
> 
> So, you can see how this would be difficult to write, as I had to compile the secret messages where necessary and then rearrange a bunch of stuff to make it all flow nicely. At least the session was fun. I particularly liked the part where I whacked H in the face with a metal bar and rolled a crit to hit him. The GM let me just treat it like I rolled as high as I possibly could, including the crit modifier. That brought H down to 1 HP from maximum. I was seriously trying to kill him, but I think Alex is better off not going through killing someone like that.


	71. Volume 3, Chapter 6: Manhunt

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Helix crew races to track down a Meta on Harmonia with help from the Red Suns.

The air in the _Helix_ ’s cargo bay howls as it is rapidly sucked into space through the open door. Shane quickly teleports himself to the door controls and slams his hand down on the button. The doors slowly begin to slide shut, but in that time, the vacuum of space continues to pull at the crew.

H magnetizes his feet to the ground, but the others do not have that luxury. Morgan slowly slides toward the doors, but she manages to keep her feet planted. Dmitri and Alex are not as fortunate. Both of them are ripped off their feet and begin to fly toward the open doors. Alex screams as she is nearly sucked right out into space. Luckily for her, she slams right into Leviathan who is much too large to fit through the partially closed door. Dmitri, however, does not get the same cushioned landing, and crashes hard into the metal door just before it closes.

“Get to the bridge!” Shane shouts.

The crew runs to the bridge, only to find their pilot lying in a pool of blood. “ _Minerva!_ ” Morgan cries out in dismay as she runs to the pilot’s side. “Get MARIA here **_now!_** ” Due to Minerva’s condition, it’s crucial that she be stabilized immediately. A small pin prick for her could lead to her bleeding to death.

“I’ve got a better idea!” Shane shouts as he runs up to them. The three vanish from sight as Shane uses his connection to Giratina to quickly bring them down to the med bay.

Shane reappears on the bridge a few moments later. “H, get down to the med bay and help Morgan! Minerva’s in really bad shape!” He shouts as he runs for the pilot’s seat. “Alex, help me land this ship!”

“Got it!” the girl responds. Alex quickly jumps into the co-pilot’s seat and looks around at the controls. “Uh… okay, I have no idea what I’m doing!”

“Honestly, neither do I!” Shane responds. “Let’s just try to get down there in one piece!”

The two begin steering the _Helix_ toward the planet, but not very smoothly. The entire ship rumbles as it turns. “C’mon…” Alex groans as she wrestles with the controls. Once the two get the ship pointed in the right direction, the ride begins to smooth out, but neither is prepared for a landing.

“Dmitri!” Shane yells. “Send out an SOS!”

The Romanov runs for the comms and manages to sound out the distress beacon. A moment later, a man appears on the viewscreen. “This is Harmonia orbital control,” he says. “We’ve picked up your distress signal.”

“Our pilot’s been stabbed and we’re going to crash!” Shane shouts at the man. “None of us know how to fly a ship!”

“Goddamn it…” He lets out a very audible sigh. “They don’t pay me enough for this shit. Alright… Ugh… Fine… Let’s see here. Try to maintain an approach vector of, uh… 027.”

“What the fuck does that even mean?!” Alex shouts back at the man.

He responds with another long, annoyed sigh.

“Well, you’re no help!” Shane replies. He and Alex continue to fight with the controls as the _Helix_ breaks through Harmonia’s atmosphere. Shane finds the button to extend the land flaps, allowing him to slow the ship’s descent a bit.

“You’re not at-” the man tries to tell them. “Eh, whatever… Just, uh… There’s an emergency landing strip near your position. Try to land there.” A set of coordinates springs up on the console.

Shane and Alex manage to steer the _Helix_ toward the the landing strip and a squadron of ships flies past in the opposite direction. They launch a series of magnetic cables at the crashing ship, then crank their engines to maximum to slow its descent.

“Brace for impact!” Shane broadcasts over comms.

The _Helix_ rumbles as it touches down, then slowly grinds to a halt.

* * *

While Morgan, MARIA, and H managed to just barely stabilize Minerva, she is still in very critical condition. With the _Helix_ now on the ground, the crew calls for a med team. The paramedics quickly board the ship and whisk Minerva off to a hospital. Morgan watches with a worried look on her face as the paramedics fly the pilot away. It is very possible that she might not survive.

The crew reassembles back on the bridge to plan their next move, just in time to see an incoming call from Arlon Jett. Shane accepts the call, and the Red Suns’ leader appears on the viewscreen. “I picked up your distress call,” he informs them. “I wasn’t able to get through until now. Everything all right?”

“We’ve had a day…” Shane tells him with a large sigh. “Have you heard of a person named Meta?”

“I can’t say that I have, mate,” Arlon tells him

“She was a young woman who was working with Aarn Hondo,” Morgan explains. “She betrayed us.”

“She stole from us, severely injured our pilot, crippled our ship, and we both crash landed on the planet,” Shane elaborates.

“Well, it sounds like you _have_ had quite the day.”

“Yeah… And, judging by how long it’s taking us to deal with all the landing procedures, it’s looking like she might get away.”

“Well, lucky for you lot, the Red Suns just happen to have a base here on Harmonia. I can use all my resources to track down this Meta for you.”

“Thanks for the help, Arlon,” Shane tells him.

“Don’t mention it, mate. Send me the details.”

Shane presses a few buttons on the console and transmits all the crew’s information on Meta. “I will warn you, though,” he adds. “When you find her, do not trust _anything_ she says.”

“Thanks for the heads up. I’ll let you know when I have something.”

* * *

While the crew waits on Arlon to track down Meta, Morgan insists that they head to a store a pick up some weapons. She looks up the location of the nearest weapon shop, which is not that hard to do on an Alliance planet like Harmonia, then the crew takes a skycab over.

“Hello, and welcome to Carl’s Weapons Emporium!” the shop owner greets them as they enter. “My name is Carl. How may I help you?”

“I want a flamethrower,” Morgan tells him without hesitation.

“A fine choice,” Carl tells her. He points to a nearby shelf full of flamethrowers. “That’ll be twelve-thousand-six-hundred credits.”

“Done,” Morgan tells him, transferring the funds with her Pokedex.

“Can I interest you in some heavy cannons as well?”

“I’m afraid I can’t afford anything else,” Morgan tells the shop owner politely.

“A shame,” Carl responds. “What about the rest of you?”

“We’re good,” Shane tells him.

“We also have a sale on plasma knives, if that interests you at all.” He points to a display case displaying a short holo-clip showing off how plasma knives work. “Only three-thousand credits.”

“Oh, cool!” Alex exclaims. “I want one!”

“I’m not so sure that’s a good idea,” Morgan says cautiously.

“But everyone else has a weapon!” Alex protests. “I should have one too, just in case.”

“Let the young lady buy one,” Carl says, rubbing his hands together. “She _does_ raise a good point.”

“Alright,” Morgan agrees.

“Yay!” Alex excitedly pays for a knife, then clips it onto her belt.

“Thank you for doing business with us,” Carl says as the crew exits the shop.

As they return to the skycab, the crew receives a message from Arlon on their Pokedexes displaying a set of coordinates and the words _found crash site_.

* * *

“Alright, here’s the situation,” Arlon informs the crew as they approach. “I’ve got my men fanning out from here, trying to cover as much ground as possible. We know she only crashed here a few hours ago, so she couldn’t have gone _too_ far.”

“You _may_ be underestimating her abilities,” Shane points out. “I think I have an idea.”

“Oh?”

“Meta sent us a message before she bailed from the _Helix_. What if we tried replying, and sending me as an attachment?”

“Oh my God, you’re a genius!” Alex blurts out.

“That’s a solid plan, mate,” Arlon agrees. “Alright, let’s sync up our comm links. As soon as you get to the other side, let us know where you are. We’ll take my air-car and try to get to you as soon as possible.” He nods toward his vehicle parked a short ways away.

“Shane, hop in my Pokedex and we’ll figure out how to send you,” Morgan adds.

“Right.” Shane touches Morgan’s Dex, and jumps inside. The two spend several moments figuring out how to attach Shane to the file, then Morgan sends it off with a message to Meta reading _We’ll get you, you little bitch._

Shane finds himself in an unfamiliar Pokedex architecture. His initial idea is to just ping the location to his crewmates, but he finds the GPS is disabled. _Of course she would have disabled that_ , Shane thinks. He jumps out of the Pokedex and stands face-to-face with Meta on a busy walkway near a mag-train station. The hacker immediately throws the device against a well, shattering it, then pulls out another.

“Guys, I’m sending you my location!” Shane says over the comms as he pulls out his own Pokedex and sends his coordinates.

“We’re on our way, mate,” Arlon’s voice replies. “Try to slow her down as much as possible."

Shane puts his Dex away, then releases his Delphox. Meta quickly responds by retreating backwards and releasing a Magnezone.

“G.W.Y.N., use Mystical Fire!” Shane commands his Pokemon. He then drops himself into warp space as the Delphox waves his wand and summons a ball of fire, which he then casts at the Magnezone.

The Magnet Area Pokemon shrugs off the hit and begins charging up to attack. “Magneto: Zap Cannon!” Meta commands it. The Magnezone fires off a giant blast of electrical energy at G.W.Y.N., immobilizing him. Meta and her Pokemon then continue moving back, in the direction of the mag-train station. “Hit it again!” Magneto fires off another powerful Zap Cannon attack, taking Shane’s Pokemon out.

Shane drops himself out of warp space and takes a swipe at the Magnezone with his marked hand, putting a slight dent in the metal being’s outer shell. “Magneto: Iron Defense!” Meta commands in response. As the Pokemon builds its defenses up, Shane uses his glitch powers to snatch them away.

“Now, Zap Cannon!” Meta commands. The Magnezone fires off another blast of electricity, this time targeting Shane, but, due to the close range, he is easily able to dodge out of the way. Shane then reaches for another Pokeball and releases his Cofagrigus.

“V.O.I.D., use Shadow Ball!” Shane commands his newly released Pokemon. The Cofagrigus builds up a ball of shadowy energy and slams it close-range into Meta’s Magnezone, draining some energy out of it.

Meta and her Pokemon keep moving toward the mag-train station, desperate to escape. They round a corner and head directly for the building with Shane and V.O.I.D. close behind. “Zap Cannon!” Meta commands. “And again!” she shouts as Magneto fires off its attack. The Magnezone immediately shoots off a follow up attack. Both shots collide with Shane’s Cofagrigus, delivering a pretty significant blow.

Just then, the mag-train arrives and begins pulling into the station. Meta hops on her Magnezone’s back and nudges it toward the train. It magnetizes to the side of the train, then Meta whips out her Pokedex. She quickly hacks into the train’s systems, and it begins picking up speed instead of slowing down to a halt. _Oh no, you don’t_ , Shane thinks as the hacker rapidly glides away on the train. He drops himself into warp space once more so that he can catch back up with her. Shane appears right next to Meta on her Pokemon’s back and clocks the hacker in the face with his marked hand, nearly knocking her off.

* * *

The rush hour sky traffic of Harmonia whizzes past on all sides as Arlon weaves the air-car through the lanes as fast as possible. “Damn this bloody traffic!” he shouts as he narrowly avoids colliding with another vehicle.

“There they are!” Morgan shouts, spotting the flashes of Shane and Meta’s Pokemon going at it on an elevated walkway.

“I see them,” Arlon says, looking where she is pointing. He dives the air-car down and swoops over the walkway. “Carmen, take the controls!” the Red Suns’ leader orders his subordinate in the passenger seat. Arlon climbs out onto the outside of the air-car as the alliance mercenary shifts herself into the driver’s seat. He then turns to the _Helix_ crew in the back. “Let’s do this.”

As the air-car passes over the walkway, Arlon and the crew scramble out of the vehicle and start running toward the fight. “We’re here!” Arlon shouts over the comms. “Which way?”

“We’re on the train!” Shane’s voice replies.

“Got it,” Arlon acknowledges. “Carmen, follow the train from the air!”

“You got it, boss.” The air-car whirrs away as Carmen steers it after the mag-train.

“The rest of you, on me,” Arlon adds as he pulls out a Pokeball. He releases his Hydreigon and leaps onto her back. “Hydra, full speed ahead!” The rest of the crew throw out their own Pokemon and run after him.

H rushes forward, then springs off his belly-pogo, launching himself high into the air. He magnetizes himself to the side of the train and begins running forward toward Shane and Meta.

“Dark Pulse!” Arlon commands his Hydreigon as she closes in on the train with her powerful set of six wings. The Brutal Pokemon fires off a focused beam of darkness from her main mouth at Meta’s Magnezone, dealing a nasty hit.

The rest of the crew and their Pokemon run to keep up, but are unable to get in range to attack. However, Morgan’s Pikachu bolts forward at lightning speed.

Back on the train, Shane and Meta continue to trade blows. “Magneto: Magnet Bomb!” Meta commands her Pokemon. The Magnezone shakes violently and fires a bunch of magnets at Shane, but he manages to stay on its back and absorb the hits.

“That’s how you wanna play, huh?” Shane taunts Meta. He releases his grip on the Magnezone and falls away from the train. He then triggers his powers, and swaps positions with the Pokemon. With nothing left supporting her, Meta begins to fall. Shane grabs hold of her and pushes her down just before they hit the ground, breaking his fall.

“Time to finish this,” Arlon says as he and his Hydreigon close in. “Hydra, use Heat Wave!” The Pokemon swoops in at Meta’s Magnezone, fire streaming out of all three of her mouths. The Pokemon collide in a massive explosion of fire, launching the Magnezone straight into the ground and embedding it in the walkway.

Hydra floats gracefully down to the ground and lets out a mighty roar as Arlon hops off. He and the crew close in around Meta and Shane, weapons trained on the hacker.

“Are you gonna kill me now?” the hacker asks. “You might as well, I’m gonna die anyway.”

“What makes you so certain?” Shane asks as he climbs off of her.

“Because he put a bomb in me,” Meta answers, pointing to her head. “Set to explode one week from now if I don’t return to I. And, if I return empty handed, he’ll blow it anyway.”

“That’s _terrible!_ ” Alex gasps.

“ _Yup…_ ” Meta responds. She seems quite frustrated by the situation.

“Well, she’s not lying,” H observes. “I just took an x-ray of her head. There’s a nasty piece of work in there.”

“I say we just let her die,” Morgan says coldly.

“What about my Kadabra?” Dmitri protests.

“Well, just grab your Pokemon, and then we can kill her,” Morgan answers.

Dmitri runs over and pats Meta down. He quickly finds his Kadabra’s Pokeball, then backs away. Morgan aims her flamethrower at Meta and prepares to pull the trigger, but Alex steps between them and throws her arms up.

“Don’t!” the girl shouts.

“Alex, _move_ ,” Morgan responds coldly.

“No!”

“She lied to us. If we let her live, she’ll just go back to I.”

“He put a bomb ** _in her head!_** We have to help her!”

“She could have told us before and she didn’t! She _wanted_ to betray us!”

“Because people will totally trust you if you go around saying ‘I have a bomb in my head that will explode if I don’t betray you,’” H cuts in. “People _lie_.”

“Like you,” Alex comments.

“ _Exactly_ ,” H responds. “Thank you.”

“I still don’t trust her,” Morgan says angrily. “What do you suggest we do with her, then?”

“We find a way to _make_ her trustworthy, and then use her,” H replies. “We don’t have to remove the bomb, we just need to reprogram it, and then we have an incredibly great asset who is capable of infiltrating our amazing security.”

“ ** _No!_** ” Alex protests. “We have to _take it out!_ No one should _**ever**_ be subjected to that!”

“As much as I agree with you, I really don’t think this thing can be removed without killing me,” Meta speaks up.

“Trust me, luv, we’ve got the resources to make it happen,” Arlon assures her. “You should let us help you because, from what I’ve heard about this I character, he’s just going to kill you once he gets what he wants anyway.”

“I was under the impression that he was looking for an…” Meta pauses for a moment as she looks for the right word. “An _assistant_. I figured my odds of survival were _higher_ if I returned to him successful than if I had to rely on someone else to remove this _fucking thing_.” She points to her head again.

“And that’s a great idea,” H tells her. “But you’re looking at the clone of the man who put that bomb in your brain.”

“Yes, and seeing as how door number one is now closed, I guess I’ll need your help if I don’t want to die.”

“Alright then,” Arlon says. “Let’s head back to base and get this taken care of.”

* * *

Back aboard the _Helix_ , now parked outside the Red Suns’ base on Harmonia, the team gathers in the med bay. While waiting for preparations to be completed, the crew tries to get a better grasp of the situation.

“So, I’m assuming your situation was involuntary,” Shane says to Meta. “Am I correct?”

“Oh, I _volunteered_ alright,” Meta replies. “At _gunpoint_. It was a fantastic deal at the time.”

“At least she had a reason to betray us,” Alex comments, glaring at H as she speaks.

“If I had betrayed you, _I_ would have hit _you_ upside the head with a pipe,” H retorts.

“You might have, if I didn’t hit you first,” Alex shoots back.

“Did I miss something?” Arlon asks, raising an eyebrow.

“Nothing important,” Morgan tells him.

“Sounds pretty important to me, luv,” Arlon replies.

“Look, it doesn’t matter. What we need to focus on now is dealing with _her_.” Morgan points over to Meta.

“The logical thing to do here is just reprogram the bomb,” H suggests.

“No!” Alex protests again. “We have to take it out!”

“If we’re gonna reprogram the bomb, we might as well just kill her,” Morgan says.

“Then we would lose Meta,” H responds.

“That’s why we _take it out_ ,” Alex insists. “No one should have a _fucking bomb_ in their head.”

“Well, not without good reason,” H tells her.

“There’s **no** good reason to put a bomb in someone’s head! **_EVER!_** ”

“I’m with Alex on this one,” Shane speaks up.

“So am I,” Morgan agrees.

“I disagree,” H tells them. “But, at the same time, I guess that’s how she wound up with a bomb in her head in the first place.”

“Well, it was that or mind control chips,” Meta explains. “And I like to, you know, at least _pretend_ I have free will.”

Alex shudders at the mention of mind control chips. “They’re not pretty,” Meta tells her after seeing her reaction. “I’ve seen them.” The hacker seems a bit haunted. “I has his experiments…”

“Well, enough talking,” Morgan speaks up. “Let’s figure out a way to fix this.”

“I assume H can handle the implants themselves,” Arlon says. “And Kiril can handle the explosive component.”

“This will work,” H agrees. “I shall get Armstong in here as well.”

“That’s probably a good idea,” Morgan agrees.

“I know I’m not in a position to make demands or terms,” Meta interrupts. “But I don’t want anything else going in my head.”

“We’ll make sure H doesn’t try anything,” Morgan assures her.

“Alright then,” Arlon says. “Shall we get started?”

* * *

“Let’s see what we’ve got here,” Armstrong says as the three specialists examine Meta’s now-exposed brain.

Strapped into the ever-so-slightly inclined operating table, her eyes are glued to the viewscreen in front of her; she had been hesitant to watch the operation, but this is _her_ mind and she _has_ to be sure they aren’t messing it up. She needs to be conscious during the procedure anyway, and had decided she was better off in the loop than out of it.

“And I thought warp bomb was fancy,” Kiril breathes with admiration as he takes a closer look at the explosives wired to Meta’s brain.

“This is a very nasty piece of work,” Armstrong agrees. “It’s wired directly into several nerves. One false move and we’ll all be blown to pieces.” 

“This is very cruel design,” Kiril responds. “Though, elegant.”

“So, shutting off her brain would be a bad idea,” H determines.

“Yes,” Armstrong agrees. “We have no way of knowing what sort of brain activity could trigger this. I don’t think we should attempt to remove it, but, instead, just focus on disabling it so that it can no longer harm her.”

“How do you suggest going about that?” Kiril asks.

“Do we still have that techno tool hacky thing?” H asks.

“The cyber-weapon?” Arlon asks him.

“Yes, that one.”

“Yeah, I’ve still got it, mate.”

“The what now?” Meta asks.

“Did you hear about the Galactic Governance Conference?” Shane asks her.

“Yeah, I heard about that.”

“We were there, and we recovered it from the people who attacked.”

“Oh, _that_ cyber-weapon.” Meta recalls hearing about it from I when she was imprisoned. “You have that?”

“Yup,” Shane tells her.

“We stole it,” Dmitri adds.

“I still want that when this is all over,” Meta tells them.

“Sorry, luv, the device stays with us,” Arlon tells her. “But now’s not the time to discuss this.”

“Yes,” H agrees. “As I was saying, we can use that device to disable the computerized components of this bomb.”

“Alright, mate,” Arlon agrees. “I’ll pop over to the _Corsair_ and fetch it.”

Once Arlon returns with the cyber-weapon, the team returns to work. It’s a long a grueling process, but they slowly work through it. Using the device, H is able to identify all the triggers, twelve in total. The team then locates the node associated with each trigger

“Let’s focus on this one first,” Armstrong says to the others, pointing to one of the nodes.

“Right,” H agrees. He lowers his ion scalpel and successfully disconnects the node.

“Now for the explosive,” Kiril says. Once H removes his ion scalpel, Kiril begins drilling in with his microlaser to get at the explosive contained within the node. He then expertly severs the connection and removes the explosive.

They move onto the second piece, only this time Kiril pulses the microlaser a fraction too high, and the node emits a light beep. He immediately switches off the microlaser and jumps back, while Meta shuts her eyes.

The room is dead silent for a long time before the node returns to its inert state. Carefully, Kiril recalibrates the microlaser, then pulses the connections around the explosive with short bursts, before safely extracting it.

“Please…” Meta begins, her voice rising slightly. “Be… more… careful.” She tries to control her breathing.

The team continues working, and successfully disarms nine more nodes without incident over the next several hours. However, each grueling moment is still as intense as the one before. After what seems like ages, they finally have just one more node remaining, linked with a part of the brain Armstrong identifies as being related to sleep.

H begins to work on the final connection, touching the ion scalpel to the node. It connects, but, all of a sudden, his fingers slip! The blade is still in contact with the wire, but it’s two millimeters off of where it should be. “This doesn’t look good,” Armstrong observes, as the node begins to light up. 

“Do not move even _single muscle!_ ” Kiril stresses. H freezes as Meta holds her breath.

“You said this trigger is connected a part of the brain related to sleep, yes?” H asks Armstrong, his grip tightening on the ion scalpel.

“Yes,” the doctor answers.

“Then let’s just try putting her to sleep,” H suggests.

“That could kill her,” Kiril replies. “And us.”

“Well, if we just stand around talking, then we’re all going to die anyway,” H counters. There is almost as much sweat on his hand now as there is on Meta’s face. “Let’s just try it. Dmitri, get over here!”

Using his abilities, Dmitri quickly puts Meta to sleep. The four of them wince for a moment, but the node simply stops flashing. H then quickly severs the final connection. As the cyborg takes his ion scalpel off the now darkened node, he sighs heavily in relief.

“That was close one,” Kiril comments. “Now, I can remove the explosive.” With just a bit more work, the Red Suns’ explosives expert manages to remove the final volatile component of the bomb, leaving behind just a useless hunk of metal.

“That should do it,” Armstrong comments. “We cannot remove anymore, but this bomb can no longer kill her.”

* * *

Meta awakens in the med bay several hours later. “How are you feeling?” Armstrong asks her as she slowly comes to.

“Did you get it out?” the hacker asks him.

“All the dangerous parts, yes,” the doctor answers. “We couldn’t remove some of the actual hardware, but the explosives were disabled and removed.”

“If you don’t mind, I would like a video log of the whole procedure to review later,” Meta tells those gathered around the table. “Particularly the part when I was asleep.”

“I recorded the whole thing with my cyber eyes,” H informs her.

“It’s not an ideal source, but it will do. I can’t be sure that he didn’t tamper with it, but if it’s the only video, I guess I don’t have a choice.”

“So, what are we gonna do with her?” Arlon asks.

“If it’s all the same to you, I’d like to stay with you guys,” Meta says, looking over at the _Helix_ crew. “I wouldn’t mind helping you take down I and getting a little payback.”

“Well, then welcome aboard,” Shane tells her, extending his hand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well that certainly was a crazy way to start off this session! When I was writing up the previous chapter for the end of the last session, when I got to the part when Meta talked to Minerva it occurred to me that Meta probably did something to Minerva, and boy was I right. At least we got her stabilized and had her rushed off to the hospital for treatment! Although, Alliance hospitals will charge an arm and a leg…
> 
> Then it was on to the chase on Harmonia! Between sessions, because of what I wrote in the third part of Seeing Red (which was written in the two week gap between sessions), we established that Harmonia was in fact the planet we ended up at, which meant the Red Suns could lend a hand! It was really fun to play as Arlon again for a little bit, especially now that his Zweilous evolved into a ridiculously good Hydreigon. And I got to test out his 1.05 build a bit! I legitimately almost killed Meta’s Magnezone because it had 5 HP left when I hit it with Heat Wave, which I had modified using Arlon’s Rider class to deal extra damage based on the difference in speed between the two Pokemon, and it was a pretty big difference. It was just awesome!
> 
> Putting a bomb in Meta’s head was a way for the GM to make some players maybe a bit more sympathetic toward Meta to maybe make people choose her over H. It certainly worked for Alex, since that kind of shit is like one of her biggest fears. Yet somehow we managed to pick secret option C and save everyone! I went into that session fully expecting to have Arlon kill H, but the way things played out, there wasn’t a good reason for that to happen.
> 
> Surprise brain surgery was fun! It was a really neat way to mix up the Spacemon formula! It was a bit dicey at times. H’s player passed the skill check DC to disarm the final trigger by 1! In the end, we managed to save Meta, and got have her on board the Helix as a backup character just in case someone died.


	72. Profile 6: The Prodigy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was written well after the original campaign, but it's placed where it is in the work as that's where it falls in the timeline.

Meta sat in H’s lab aboard the  _Helix_ , rewatching the the recording of her brain operation that the cyborg had provided for the seventeenth time. Specifically, the portion of the surgery that had occurred after Dmitri had put her to sleep with … whatever bizarre psionic power he had. If she had watched the entire ten hour operation back that many times, it would have taken the entire week. No, the young hacker did not have time for that. She only  _really_  cared about the part she had not watched as it happened. She would have  _liked_  to have been awake for the entire thing, but putting her to sleep had saved her life, so she couldn’t complain  _too much_. She  _only_  had to be inconvenienced by watching the final moments of the surgery over and over again, analyzing every movement of her surgeons’ hands, just to make sure H hadn’t put anything  _extra_  into her head and that the bomb had been properly disarmed instead of reprogrammed as he had insisted be done before the surgery began.

“I trust that you are satisfied with this video record,” the cyborg said, suddenly appearing at Meta’s side. “That everything went smoothly. That I—”

“That you didn’t try to reprogram the bomb in my head to suit your needs?” Meta interrupted him. She cast a sideways glance at the cyborg, then moved her eyes back to her Pokedex’s screen. “Assuming you haven’t tampered with this video file, then yes, I am satisfied.”

“Wonderful!” H exclaimed. “While I would have preferred to do things my way, my companions once again outvoted me. As misguided as they may be, I agreed to their wishes. Now it is up to you to prove that this was not a mistake. You have shown yourself to be quite useful so far — more than I can say for  _some_  people on this ship — but your trustworthiness … ah, yes, that is another matter entirely.”

The cyborg continued to speak, but Meta stopped paying attention. She had considered simply interrupting him, allowing the conversation to progress, but part of her was quite curious as to how long he would continue to speak if she remained silent. Would H’s rambling reach some sort of conclusion, or would he go on forever?

This cyborg, while similar to I in appearance — as well as in thought processes to a certain extent — was quite different from the man who had held her captive, who had put a bomb in her brain. H was a puzzling individual and Meta wasn’t quite sure what to make of him. There was something about him that was, quite frankly,  _intriguing_  … in more ways than one.

Meta couldn’t help but look the peculiar man over as he continued his rambling speech. H wasn’t bad looking, and his numerous cybernetic augmentations made him even more attractive to her. In particular, his unique DNA augmentation that was noted in his medical file was what intrigued her the most. It was cutting edge technology, a true marvel of cybernetics the likes of which the hacker had never seen before, the perfect harmony of technology … and  _biology_. She was quite interested in getting a closer look.

“... And, furthermore, I believe that we can achieve great things. Your knowledge of computers will work wonders for advancing my scientific endeavors, assuming you  _are_  trustworthy, of course. I hope that my not reprogramming the bomb inside of your brain will allow  _you_  to see that  _I_  am trustworthy, and your trusting of me will enable my trusting of you as you will have shown your trustworthiness.”

“What?”

Before their conversation could continue any further, the other members of the  _Helix_ ’s crew walked in. “Let’s go, H,” Shane said, motioning the cyborg to join them.

“Right,” H said, walking over to the group with a sense of his purpose. “Where are we going?”

“To the hospital,” Morgan said, as if the cyborg should have known the answer to that question already. “We have to see how Minerva is doing.” She then turned her gaze toward Meta. “And you,” she began. “We’ve been talking, and we have agreed that you should pay for Minerva’s medical bills. It is your fault she’s in the hospital in the first place.”

“What, do I look like a credit mine to you?” Meta asked.

Morgan folded her arms. “I’m sure you’ll figure something out.”

* * *

“—which cybernetically augment the the body on a cellular level, modifying the DNA itself to direct the cells to begin producing nanomachines.”

“ _Fascinating_ ,” Meta said. “Tell me, how exactly do these augmentations get the cells to do this?”

She was answered with the sound of liquid sloshing around as Dr. Armstrong took another swig of whisky straight from the bottle, followed by a stream of incoherent speech. Meta let out a long, drawn out sigh. She would not be getting anymore answers out of the Alliance scientist at the moment. She had been lucky to get as much out of him as she did. The man was …  _difficult_  to speak with, to say the least.

“Guess I’ll have to go over it myself,” Meta grumbled as she effortlessly connected her Pokedex with Dr. Armstrong’s computer terminal and downloaded the detailed technical readouts of H’s unique technorganic augmentations. The technology was truly amazing and she was eager to learn everything there was to know about it.

Meta stood up and exited the Alliance scientist’s lab, then made her way to the cargo bay and down the loading ramp. Pouring over all that information would be an activity for later. Right now, Meta needed to get off the  _Helix_ for a while and stretch her legs … and give her mind a break from the dull company of the ship’s auxiliary crew.

“Might as well get those credits while I’m out here,” Meta said to herself. The hacker reached for one of her Pokeballs, then released her Magnezone. She jumped up on top of the metallic Pokemon, and the two flew off in the direction of Harmonia’s more commercial districts.

* * *

Meta fiddled around with her Pokedex as she walked along a footbridge suspended above Harmonia’s lower skylanes, crossing between two elevated storefronts. The hacker had already siphoned more than enough credits to pay for Minerva’s medicals bills from the automated pay registers from several stores in the area. She was actually a bit disappointed by how easy it had been. All she had to do was “trick” the registers into accepting a negative payment value, and then they had transferred the credits right to one of the several “cracked” Pokedexes in her possession.

Anyone who  _actually_  cared about security would have accounted for such an  _obvious_  trick, but it seemed that mass-produced Alliance tech was just as cheap as the Spacenet made it out to be. And now Meta was bored again.

Meta glanced down over the railing at the skylane traffic below as she neared the far side of the footbridge. Her attention was immediately grabbed by a slight sync delay in the signal bots. “Talk about a lack of optimization,” Meta said as she watched the skycars in the lane waste valuable seconds waiting for a signal change when the intersection ahead was clear. Sure, a short delay would provide a safety buffer against reckless skycar pilots, but this one was obscenely long. It was rather infuriating.

“Someone needs to do something about that.” Meta glanced over at her Magnezone floating along beside her. “Magneto, get me down there.”

* * *

Wind rushed through Meta’s hair as she soared along beside the skylane traffic on the back of her Magnezone. Moving from signal bot to signal bot along the particular lane she had chosen to follow, Meta hacked in and adjust the timing on the signal changes, creating the most optimal pattern of changes from intersection to intersection, while also taking into account allowing a suitable delay to provide a safety buffer — not to mention making sure her modifications remained mostly undetectable in order to prevent some idiot from undoing her work.

As she continued along her path, something became abundantly clear to the young hacker; Alliance digital security was  _terrible_ , at least when it came to public infrastructure. The ease at which she was able to access the signal bots’ code and make changes would probably be rather alarming to the average citizen. They were easier to hack into than the signal bots back on her homeworld of Xiou, and that was saying something.

After one last adjustment to a signal bot, Meta reached the end of the lane she had been following. The lane in question had been a complete straightaway from where she had begun to follow its path. It had continued in the same direction right up until this point, where a huge building stood in its way and the lane forked off in separate directions along either side of the building.

A large holo-sign on the side of the structure captured Meta’s attention; it read  _STARBOUND SECURITY SOLUTIONS_. That alone wasn’t enough to intrigue her, but it advertised this particular private security corporation as one of the largest in Alliance space, and that they were contracted to coordinate Harmonia’s planetary defense network … right out of this very building. Because that was  _totally_  a smart thing to advertize right on the side of building.

Her previous endeavor complete, and needing something else to keep herself entertained, Meta decided to check it out. “Let’s see what sort of fun stuff they’ve got going on here,” the hacker said as she directed her Magnezone to fly up along the outside of the building.

* * *

Meta sat on top of her Magnezone, which was magnetized to the wall in a small nook on the outside of the Starbound building, browsing through the private security company’s network. It really hadn’t been that much more difficult for her than hacking into the traffic signal bots, not that cyber-infiltration was ever particularly challenging for Meta. Most anything the hacker could do was preventable by  _actual security_  implemented by people who  _actually knew what they were doing_ , simply exploiting vulnerabilities left by sloppy programmers, so it was a bit amusing to her that a corporation whose business  _was_  security didn’t properly secure their computer systems. Any cybersecurity expert worth their salt would know to look for those vulnerabilities, and  _get rid of them_. Although Meta supposed that a lot of these Alliance private security organizations were more focused on advanced military hardware as opposed to software. Judging from what she had seen of their systems so far, Starbound was more worried about defending the planet from physical threats than cyber threats.

There was definitely some interesting stuff in there. What intrigued Meta most was the orbital defense grid. It was pretty impressive, if she was being honest; a network of advanced tracking satellites and orbital platforms mounted with powerful anti-ship weaponry that could easily repel an attacking fleet. It made sense for a planet as economically important as Harmonia to have that kind of firepower protecting it.

Meta did have one criticism, however. While the defense grid was impressive from a hardware perspective, the software left much to be desired. For one thing, the cybersecurity was  _just plain awful_. Meta was  _outside_ Starbound’s headquarters  _on the planet’s surface_ , accessing the network connecting the various components that were  _in orbit_. Then there was the way the grid tracked and prioritized targets. It would work okay enough for ships, especially a smaller number, which was fine considering it was unlikely the Romanov Supremacy could manage to get a whole fleet this deep into Alliance space.

Meta’s particular issue was that she knew that an attack on Harmonia by ships wasn’t the thing Starbound needed to be worried about. She knew what I was capable of, and more importantly, she had read everything that her new crewmates and their Red Suns allies had on Mr. Silver … and the dangerous Pokemon-Human hybrid that had been developed under his careful guidance. Harmonia’s planetary defense network was not optimized to deal with that. Assuming that it had the firepower to  _actually deal with that_ , Meta would find a way to make it happen from a software standpoint. She did need a way to pass the time after all.

“What if we try tracking psychic signatures,” Meta mused aloud as she theorized how to go about optimizing the defense grid to deal with an attack from the newest threat to the Galaxy. “Wait a minute, what am I thinking? That would target every ship’s psychic navigator. I’ll have to be a bit more specific with my parameters.”

A few moments later, Meta had something she thought would work. The limited data she had to work with was just enough to give her an obvious method of tracking her very particular target. Based on the first encounter her new crewmates had with the creature, Meta knew that scanners detected it as very small ship with an  _extremely_  powerful warp signature, so that’s what she had the grid look for.

That was just step one. A method of accurately prioritizing targets meant nothing if the available attack options weren’t used in the most optimal ways to deal with the specific threat. Rockets were no good, because the being in question could easily toss them aside with telekinesis. The heavy laser turrets, Meta determined, were the best choice to strike with first, hopefully being enough to bring down the creature’s barriers. Then the orbital platforms would hit with their powerful railguns, plasma cannons, and—

“What’s this?” Meta cut off her own train of thought, her attention captured by a particular tool in the defense grid’s arsenal.

It seemed Starbound was working with some pretty serious tech: experimental heavy warp cannons. Meta had seen warp-based weaponry on a smaller scale before in the form of heavy weapons used by infantry — in fact, she had seen some of those warp cannons lying around the Red Suns base — but she hadn’t really heard about this kind of large scale version. Of course, the technology existed and would certainly work at that size … it was just very expensive. If anyone was going to fund it, though, it would be a corporation like Starbound.

“This changes  _everything_ ,” Meta decided. Warp-based weaponry seemed like it would work very well against this particular foe better than anything else the defense grid gave her to work with.

“If a bunch of these are fired at the same point at the same time, it would  _really_  pack a punch. Just a few minor adjustments here, and …  _oops_.”

Excited at the prospect of working with such awesome tech, Meta distracted herself and made a  _slight_  error. She quickly realized she had triggered several of the warp cannons to fire at the same point in space. After quickly remedying the problem, the hacker pulled up a video feed from one of the orbital platform to see the result.

“At least I know that it works now,” Meta said to herself as she examined the temporary spatial distortion she had caused.

Over the next several minutes, Meta made a few more adjustments to the defense grid to make sure it would do exactly what she wanted when the time came, then worked on covering her tracks. She didn’t want some idiot to find her modifications and undo them. She also needed to make sure that no one figured out what had caused the warp cannons to “misfire.” And then she was off. She rode her Magnezone down the side of the building, then began the journey back to the Red Suns’ base. It was better not to risk sticking around much longer, and surely her new crewmates would be back by now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Glad to finally get this one done. When first selecting characters to expand upon with Profiles, Meta was an obvious choice. She was an very interesting character who didn’t get a whole lot of time to shine. The question, however, was what exactly to do with her Profile. There were a number of points to consider, the first of which was to choose where to put it on the timeline. It didn’t make sense to do it before her introduction in Tempore Ex Machina, and between parts would have been a bit weird. After that series wouldn’t have worked either as Meta was I’s prisoner. It had to be somewhere after she joined up with the Helix crew, and with Shane’s free warping ability everything after Harmonia basically happened one thing right after another … except for the one week the ship spent chilling on Harmonia. It was literally the only window where we could fit this thing it.
> 
> With the timeline placement figured out, the next challenge was figuring out what to do with it. I’ll admit, I was originally a bit intimidated with writing Meta, but after the practice I got in Blueshift, and figuring out a writing style that worked to capture the essence of her character, it turned out to be a bit easier that expected. The main challenge was figuring out what to write about given all the constraints. The GM initially suggested writing about Meta getting the credits for Minerva’s medical bills, and have the Helix crew ask her to pay for them to make the flow of the next few chapters better, but we agreed that it would be too easy a task for her to focus the whole piece on it. At some point the GM suggested having Meta play with the planetary defense system to entertain herself, and in the end that’s what I decided to focus on. We had a few other ideas we decided to incorporate as well. I thought it would be fun to show Meta interacting with some of the other NPCs on the ship. I thought about including interactions with Bill and Diane as well, but it flowed better with just Armstrong. The GM also had the idea of showing Meta’s interest in H so that their future interactions seemed less out of the blue. I have to say, it all came together quite nicely.


	73. Volume 3, Chapter 7: Reunion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alex is reunited with an old friend on Harmonia.

“She’s lucky to be alive.” The _Helix_ crew waits anxiously outside Minerva’s room at the hospital as the nurse informs them of her status. “With her condition, the fact that she even survived the trip over here is a miracle.”

“So, how is she doing now?” Morgan inquires.

“Her condition is still critical,” the nurse explains. “The good news is that she’s stable now. Unfortunately, we don’t know if she’s ever going to wake up. I do need to inquire about the billing though. If she doesn’t make it, we’ll need to be able to contact her next-of-kin to pay the bills. That’s not you, is it?”

“No,” Morgan answers. “We’re her employers.”

“You shouldn’t have to worry then,” the nurse tells her. Morgan just sighs. Alliance health care policies are baffling to her.

“Guys, no matter what happens, I really think we should pay for this,” Shane tells his crewmates after the nurse walks off. “I mean, it is kind of our fault she ended up like this.”

“I agree,” Morgan tells him.

“In the meantime, let us be productive,” H speaks up. “There’s no more use waiting around here.”

* * *

Back at the Red Suns’ base, the crew spends the next few days taking stock of supplies and puts together a list of things to buy while they’re on Harmonia, as the original reason they came to this planet _was_ to pick up supplies. Together, they decide to purchase a holotable to set up in the security room, and convert it into a situation room, and a new, more powerful weapon for the _Helix_. Additionally, Dmitri makes a list of equipment he needs for his new lab.

Needing a bit of fresh air, Morgan steps off the _Helix_ and looks around at the Red Suns milling around the base.

“How’s your pilot doing, luv?” she suddenly hears Arlon ask. She turns to see the Red Suns’ leader standing next to her. She’s a bit surprised at first as she had forgotten his uncanny ability to remain unseen, even by _her_.

“She’s… _improving_ ,” Morgan answers. “Of course, they’re planning to discharge her earlier than we would like and the bill is going to be _massive_.”

“Gotta love the Alliance health care system, am I right?” Arlon says, semi-jokingly. “Things are much better back home… Too bad the _bloody_ Romanovs took over.”

“Don’t remind me,” Morgan tells him.

Before the conversation can continue, H walks off the _Helix_. “Arlon! Wonderful!” the cyborg shouts upon seeing the mercenary.

“Yes, mate?” Arlon asks. “How can I help you?”

“I must speak with your friend Zhukov at once!”

“He should be around here somewhere. What for, mate?”

“I wish to learn of his techniques with explosives, of course!”

“Well, he’s certainly the man for the job,” Arlon says with a laugh. “C’mon, mate, let’s go find him.”

Arlon brings H to the _Corsair_ , then leads him to Kiril’s bomb workshop, where they find the Romanov demolitions expert tweaking an explosive device. He glances up at the two as they enter.

“Hello, comrades.” He stands up to greet them. “What can I do for you?”

“H here wants to learn about explosives, mate,” Arlon explains.

“Ah, the noble art of making things go _boom_ ,” Kiril says enthusiastically.

“Precisely,” H agrees, a grin appearing on his face.

“Da! I can help with that, comrade,” Kiril tells the cyborg. He walks over and places one of his large hands on H’s shoulder, then leads him into the room. “You see, making bomb is like making love to woman. In the end, the only thing that matters is the _bang_.”

Arlon shakes his head a bit and chuckles, then walks out of the room.

* * *

Once the crew is ready, they catch a skycab to the Mall of Harmonia, advertised as the largest mall in the entire sector. The first order of business is to acquire the holotable. Desiring only the best equipment, everyone pitches in to purchase the top of the line model, equipped with a quantum entangler and a tactical VI. Next up, the crew purchases a heavy photon repeater to round out the _Helix_ ’s arsenal. Finally, Dmitri purchases a dream machine for his lab, as well as some other equipment.

As they begin to compile their large collection of purchases, the hospital calls and informs them that Minerva is being discharged.

“Already?” Morgan asks suspiciously. “I thought they said it would be a few more days.”

“They say she’s made a pretty much full recovery,” Shane tells her. “She just needs a bit more rest on the _Helix_. I assume you all have more shopping you’d like to do, so I’ll make sure all this stuff gets safely to the ship, then I’ll go pick her up.”

“Good idea,” Morgan agrees.

“Alright, I’ll see you guys back on the ship.”

* * *

“Need some help with all that stuff, mate?” Arlon asks when he sees Shane return to the base with a large stack of crates.

“Yeah, that’d be great,” Shane tells him.

Arlon waves over a few men and instructs them to carry the crates. “Need any help installing anything?” Arlon asks. “I can get some guys to get it all rigged up for you.”

“That would actually be helpful,” Shane replies. “I need to go pick our pilot up.”

“Need a ride?”

“Uh, sure.”

“Oy! Matt!” Arlon shouts as they walk by the pilot lounging against some crates. “How about you make yourself useful and give my friend here a ride to the hospital?!”

“But this crate is comfortable!” Matt shouts back. Shane gets the sense that the two are joking with each other more than anything.

“Oh, c’mon! It won’t take very long, mate! It might even be fun!”

“Alright, fine… ya jackass…”

“Don’t mind him, mate,” Arlon says, turning back to Shane. “The kid may be kind of a prick, but he’s a damn good pilot.”

“I’m sure,” Shane replies. “Well, thanks for the help.”

“Don’t mention it, mate. We’ll have all your gadgets hooked up by the time you get back.”

* * *

Back at the mall, the rest of the crew spreads out as they head off to pick up other items they want, and sell some of the things they’ve found on their journeys that they don’t need. Alex, in particular, decides to pick up some items for her Pokemon. The crew’s recent encounters with that _abomination_ and with I had convinced her that her Pokemon need all the advantages they can get. The girl finds her way to a store specializing in Pokemon items. After a bit of browsing, she picks out several items for her main team and decides to buy them.

Satisfied with her purchases, Alex exits the store. Checking her credit balance on her Pokedex as she walks out, the girl walks right into someone. A flurry of green hair fills Alex’s vision.

“Hey, watch where you’re-” a girl’s voice starts to berate her, but then it cuts short. “ _Alex?_ ” the girl asks, sounding bewildered. “Alex is that really you?”

It takes Alex a moment to realize who she just bumped into. Her hair is different, but that voice… _those eyes_ … Her identity is unmistakable.

“ _Naomi?!_ ” Alex asks, caught completely by surprise. She anxiously tugs on her ponytail, unsure of what to do.

“Oh my God, it’s really you!” Naomi cries out as she pulls Alex into a tight hug. “I can’t believe it’s you.” Alex can feel tears on the other girl’s cheek as it presses against her own. “I’m sorry,” the green-haired girl whispers.

“No… I- _I’m_ sorry,” Alex tells her. She too begins to cry as she places her hands on Naomi’s arms. “I… I fucked everything up before. I _ruined_ everything!”

“You didn’t ruin _anything_ ,” Naomi responds. “ _I_ was the one who left… and… I… I’m so sorry. For _everything_. I _really_ regret that decision. Every single day that I’ve been back here…” She sighs as she tries to find the words. “Nothing’s the same anymore. Everything I _thought_ was true… Everyone I _thought_ I knew… All of it turned out to be lies… Except for _you_ …”

“Well... I’m here now,” Alex tells her.

Naomi hugs Alex again, even tighter than before. Alex returns her embrace and feels herself overcome with tears of joy.

After several minutes, Naomi breaks from the hug and takes Alex’s hands in her own. The two girls smile as they gaze into each other’s eyes. “I saw you on TV at the Fighting Gym,” Naomi tells Alex. “That battle was _amazing_. You must have a bunch of _crazy_ stories to tell.”

“You have no idea.”

* * *

“Wow, that’s _incredible_ ,” Naomi gasps.

She and Alex are seated next to each other on a bench, trading stories of their adventures since they last saw each other. Alex shares her journeys with the crew of the _UAS Helix_ , while Naomi tells Alex of her own mission to reveal corruption in Alliance society, even in her own father’s company. They even find that they share a connection through the Red Suns, who helped Naomi steal files from under her father’s nose.

“My own story seems so silly compared to the things you’ve experienced,” Naomi continues.

“No,” Alex tells her. “Not at all. What you’re doing is _awesome!_ ”

“Well, it’s all because of _you_ , Alex. You changed my life forever… I just wish I realized it back on Vandia…”

“But now we have a second chance,” Alex responds. She hops up from the bench and stands in front of Naomi. “Our paths have led us both here for a reason. We were _meant_ to find each other again.” Alex wraps her hands around Naomi’s. “Now you can come with me. We can travel the stars... _together_.”

Naomi looks up at Alex with a conflicted expression on her face. “I want to… I want to _so much_.” She stands up, then reaches her hand out to Alex’s face and sweeps the hair in front of her eyes back, behind her ear. “I would like nothing more, but… there are still things I need to do _here_.”

“Like what?”

“My father… I’m still working to expose him. I’m so close now… If I leave now, then all those months of work will have been for nothing.”

“But I can help you,” Alex tells her.

“How?” Naomi asks naively.

“Just trust me, okay?”

“Alright,” Naomi answers. “I trust you.” She leans in and kisses Alex on the lips.

Alex can feel her heart racing as their lips lock. She feels like a fire is burning inside her. In this moment, everything feels _right_. All the problems of the Galaxy fade away, leaving only Alex and Naomi in their passionate embrace.

“Naomi?” a man’s voice suddenly interrupts. Naomi freezes, then breaks away from Alex. She turns around to see her father standing behind her. “Naomi, who is _this?_ ” He casts a disapproving glance at Alex. It is clear that he does not remember her, but she remembers _him_.

Naomi nervously attempts to stammer out some sort of explanation but no real words come out. “D- dad? W- what are you doing here?” she finally manages to ask. She anxiously looks over at Alex for support. Alex grabs her hand reassuringly.

“Naomi, come here,” the man says. He motions for her to follow.

Naomi takes two steps toward her father, then stops. She looks desperately back at Alex. “Uhm… But…”

“Don’t go…” Alex pleads.

Naomi looks into Alex’s eyes and finds courage there. “No,” she says, turning back to her father.

“ _What?_ ” He asks harshly. “ _What_ did you say?”

“She said ‘no.’” Alex tells him. She tightens her grasp on Naomi’s hand.

Naomi’s father says nothing. He just stares coldly at Alex, filling her with fear.

“Excuse me, is there a problem here?” Morgan asks, walking up to the group. She stands resolutely next to Alex.

“This doesn’t concern you, miss,” Naomi’s father responds. He then turns back to Naomi. “My daughter and I were just _leaving_.”

“It doesn’t seem like she really wants to go with you,” Morgan observes.

“She’s my daughter,” Naomi’s father replies. “What she _wants_ is not really the priority here.”

“She’s old enough to make her own decisions.”

“Which fool are we dealing with today?” H asks as he and Dmitri walk over from a nearby store. Naomi’s father looks at the cyborg with a very confused glance.

Alex steps back toward her crewmates and pulls Naomi along with her. Naomi’s father moves to step forward, but Dmitri blocks his way. “ _Sleeeep_ ,” the Romanov says as he attempts to hypnotize the man. Unfortunately, he is unsuccessful.

“What the hell is this?” Naomi’s father asks. “Who the hell are you people, and what do you want with my daughter?”

“These are my friends!” Alex shouts at him as she and Naomi back further away. “They won’t let you keep me and Naomi apart!”

“Who are we?!” H asks. Storm clouds gather outside as he speaks. “ _We_ are the future saviors of the universe! _Those_ who will _rise_ to greatness! We are the ones who will save _all_ of Humanity from doomsday! The most _experienced_ experts in _all_ of the Galaxy! Now, who, sir, are _you?!_ ” H points his finger right in the man’s face, nearly poking his nose. Lightning cracks the sky as he speaks the final word.

“I am Jonathan Pierce, CEO of ASI Consolidated, largest corporation in Alliance Space,” Naomi’s father declares as he backs up a bit. “I have the funds to sue you out of existence.”

“Suing won’t affect me,” H responds coldly. “But I have plenty of ways to affect you.”

“Oh, _really?_ ”

“Really,” Dmitri cuts in. He steps up again, and this time successfully puts the man to sleep. As Naomi’s father falls to the floor, Dmitri uses his Darkrai powers to purge his recent memory.

Naomi walks over and kneels down next to her father. “What the hell did you _do?_ ” she asks, more curiously than anything.

“He’ll be fine, he’s just asleep,” Dmitri explains. “And he won’t remember the last fifteen minutes.”

“Why did we knock him out?” H asks. “Who is this guy? What is going on?”

Before anyone can answer, the ground begins to rumble. Looking outside, they can see the storm clouds growing unnaturally dense at an alarming rate. “Do you guys read me?” Arlon’s voice sounds on the crew’s commlinks.

“We hear you,” Dmitri responds.

“So, we’ve got a problem.” As if on cue, the burning outline of falling ships appear through the storm clouds. A familiar blue streak of light descends from the heavens. “That _thing_ is back.”

The horrifying voice echoes through the minds of everyone on Harmonia. “ **Humans: pathetic vermin beneath my gaze. You know only anger and a lust for power which you can never have. You are unworthy of existence. Now, bear witness as I tear this world, the first of many, apart.** ”

The quakes rapidly increase in intensity, and bits of buildings begin to collapse. “Everyone, back to base, **_NOW!_** ” Arlon shouts over the comms, both to the _Helix_ crew, and his men. “We are _leaving!_ ”

“C’mon, let’s go!” Morgan shouts to her crewmates. She grabs Alex by the arm and begins pulling her and Naomi along as she runs. Dmitri follows close behind, while H takes the time to pick up Naomi’s father before following.

“Shane, what’s Minerva’s status?!” Morgan asks urgently over the comms.

“We’ve just picked her up!” Shane responds. “We’re headed back to the _Helix_ now!”

Suddenly, rubble begins to fall from the ceiling. Alex releases Morgan’s hand to protect Naomi, and pulls the girl to safety just in time. The crew continues running, weaving through the panicked crowds until they reach the exit of the mall.

“There, that skycar!” Dmitri shouts, pointing to a nearby vehicle “Let’s hijack it!”

“Good idea!” Morgan agrees. She runs over, and hops into the driver’s seat. She rips open a panel and begins fiddling with the parts inside in an attempt to start the skycar. H, in the meantime, dumps Naomi’s father into the back.

As Alex and Naomi run to catch up, another quake rumbles the ground, knocking them away from each other. A large fissure begins to form, and splits the ground between them. “Alex!” Naomi screams as they drift further apart.

“Naomi!” Alex prepares to jump across, but just before she leaps, she realizes that, while she can easily make it across the gap, she’s not strong enough to pick Naomi up and jump back. _What do I do?!_ she thinks desperately. “H!” Alex screams to her crewmate.

“What now?!” H shouts back.

“ _Save her!!_ ” Alex pleads.

Not sure why he is being asked to do this, H fully extends his legs and quickly strides across the gap and picks Naomi up. He steps back across the quickly growing gap just as it crumbles away, and places Naomi on the ground. The girl runs to Alex and hugs her tightly.

“Car’s ready!” Mogan shouts. “Everyone get in!” They all pile into the car and Morgan takes off.

* * *

Lightning bolts spark all around as Matt dodges the panicked sky traffic. All laws of the skylanes have been abandoned and chaos reigns supreme. While the Red Suns’ pilot’s maneuvers are technically very skillful, Minerva would definitely be making some kind of snarky remarks about his daredevil flying, if she were she feeling up to it.

“When Arlon said this would be fun, I didn’t think _this_ was what he had in mind!” the young Alliance pilot shouts as he narrowly avoids smashing into a skycar flying the opposite direction. Hearing the anger in his voice, Shane looks over and is surprised to see Matt smiling.

“Are you _actually_ enjoying this right now?!” Shane asks.

“Maybe a little!” the pilot responds. “But the other part of me is thinking that this isn’t quite challenging enough!”

“You’re crazy, you know that?!”

“I get that a lot!”

They break free of the main city area, and start making major progress as they rocket across the skies of Harmonia’s industrial zone. It doesn’t take long for them to arrive back at base. As they climb out of the skycar, they see Arlon barking out orders rapid fire.

“Good, you made it,” the Red Suns’ leader says upon seeing them. “Matt, get your ass on the _Corsair_ and get her prepped for launch! Shane get your pilot situated!”

“There’s _no_ way I’m flying in _this_ mess!” Minerva shouts.

“I wasn’t going to ask you to, luv! I’ll fly the _Helix_ myself! Now get on board!” The mercenary then reaches for his commlink. “Morgan, how’re things on your end?!”

* * *

“We’re almost there!” Morgan shouts over the comms. “We’re just-” A loud crack interrupts her as a bolt of lightning strikes the skycar. The systems start going haywire and the vehicle begins to descend.

“I didn’t catch that!” Arlon’s voice sounds over the comms.

“We got hit!” Morgan shouts. “We’re going down! I can pull out a landing but we’ll need to find another air-car!”

“ _Shit!_ Make it as quick as possible, but stay safe!”

The skycar lurches violently as it collides with the ground, leaving everyone in the vehicle a bit battered and bruised, but otherwise okay. “What the hell is going on?!” Naomi’s father shouts. Having just been awoken by the crash, he is completely confused by the events unfolding around him.

“The end of the world!” H informs him as the ground rumbles violently with another quake.

Everyone climbs out of the skycar, and they desperately search for a replacement. After several minutes, Morgan spots one and waves everyone over. She quickly hacks into it, and soon they’re off again. Morgan pushes the accelerator as hard as she can, getting them back to the base rather quickly.

The _Corsair_ ’s engines roar as it lifts off, casting a shadow over the skycar as it approaches. They all clamber out of the vehicle and run to the _Helix_. As soon as they board, Arlon wastes no time in taking off. Before the boarding ramp even finishes closing, he lifts off and follows after the _Corsair_.

From up here, everyone on the _Helix_ can see the true extent of the damage. A massive fissure runs along the surface of Harmonia. Skyscrapers crumble and fall in as blasts of magma erupt outwards. “That thing is tearing the bloody planet in half!” Arlon shouts in disbelief.

As the two ships attempt to flee, the abomination turns to them and tosses a skyscraper in their direction as if it were a toy. Arlon quickly rolls the _Helix_ out of the way, but the _Corsair_ is not so lucky. Matt manages to avoid most of the impact, but the massive structure scrapes against the side of the frigate, smashing through the shields and breaking off a few pieces of the hull.

“Be careful with my ship!” Arlon shouts over the comms.

“I’m trying boss!” comes Matt’s reply. “But that thing threw a _fucking building_ at me!”

“Just hold it together, mate!” Arlon tells him.

The two vessels break free of the rapidly escaping atmosphere as the abomination finally fully rips the halves of the world apart, exposing the molten core to the cold vacuum of space.

“How the hell are you supposed to fight that!?” Matt yells over the comms.

“You don’t, mate,” Arlon responds. “You just run. See you at the rendezvous point.”

The _Helix_ and the _Corsair_ drop into warp space, leaving behind the horrific destruction wrought by the most powerful being in the entire Galaxy.

* * *

As the _Helix_ flies through warp space, the crew and their new passengers stand around the holotable in the newly furbished situation room. All the galactic news networks broadcast the destruction and the abomination’s message across the stars.

“I told them this would happen,” Arlon says angrily. “I told them this would happen, and no one bloody listened! Turn this shit off. It’s not going to show anything different.” His request goes unanswered. “If you need me, I’ll be on the bridge,” the mercenary says before briskly walking out of the room.

“Would someone like to explain to me who these people are, and why we saved them from the end of the world?” H finally asks after several more moments of silence. When no one answers, he singles out Alex, who he notices sticking close to Naomi. “Who are these people!?” He demands.

“Well, um… this is…” Alex attempts to explain. She looks back at Naomi as she tries to find the words. “She’s my, uh... girlfriend… I guess.”

“Well, okay,” H responds. “What can she do?”

“It doesn’t matter,” Alex tells him.

“It absolutely _does_ matter.”

“No, _it doesn’t_ ,” Alex shoots back.

“How could it not? You just saw a planet _explode_ ; the end of the Universe is coming, and if everyone here isn’t doing the most that they can to stop it, more planets are going to explode!”

“H, sometimes you just have to save people,” Morgan tells the cyborg.

“Why?”

“Because Human life is worth something.”

“By definition, if it’s not useful, it isn’t worth anything.”

“You’re wrong!” Alex shouts.

“Then why?” H asks.

“All life inherently has value because everyone can be taught a skill that is useful,” Shane offers.

“Fine,” H tells him. “But _we don’t have the time_ to teach people to be useful. _We don’t have time_ to educate everyone on how to save the Universe. We pick the people who can do it, and the rest we have to just let go, otherwise they’re just going to cause more problems, and I doubt extra baggage is the thing you want to have when trying to save the Universe.” He then turns back to Alex. “Fine. If she’s useless, she’s useless, but don’t expect me to save her again anytime soon.” And with that, the cyborg storms out of the room.

* * *

Meta steps into H’s lab to find him tinkering around with what looks like some sort of explosives. He stops when he sees the young woman enter.

“I’d like to see the coordinates I provided you,” she tells the cyborg.

“Very well,” H replies. He pulls out his Pokedex and shows the coordinates to the hacker.

“Hmm, these are the same one he gave _me_ ,” Meta observes. “That must be where he is.”

“We know where we need to go. We know what we need to do. Time to get to work.”

“Agreed.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh man, this was a freaking fantastic chapter to write! There was a lot of parts in session where there wasn’t any real RPing and very barebones descriptions of what was happening, so I had lots of room to just make shit up and make this chapter super exciting. I was in such a good mood after I finished writing this. Probably the most fun I’ve had writing a chapter in all of Volume 3.
> 
> Okay, onto plot stuff now! Alex and Naomi’s reunion was so touching. RPing it was a bit awkward, but we picked up as we went. Special thanks to Shane's player for doing a good job RPing some of Naomi’s lines without knowing much about the character. Going back to write it made me feel warm and fuzzy inside though. After all the shit Alex has been through, as seen in her backstory and in the main story, it was nice for something to work out for her for once. Writing Seeing Red gave me a lot of creative freedom, which I used to sort of push them back together in the third part, and I’m glad the GM allowed it to happen. Having her father show up was a very unexpected curveball though.
> 
> I did see the damn Mewtwo coming, though. That thing is freaking ridiculous! We’ve seen it destroy a whole fleet, but to tear a whole planet in half? That’s terrifying! At least everyone who matters made it out okay.


	74. Volume 3, Chapter 8: The Ghost ship

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In a special Halloween edition of Spacemon, the members of the Helix crew find themselves on a spooky and mysterious derelict ship full of ghost Pokemon!

Long ago it was written  
That once in every ten thousand years  
The stars of the galaxies align  
Blending our world... with theirs

* * *

The _UAS Helix_ flies through warp space, en route to the rendezvous point to meet up with Hondo and the rest of the Red Suns. It’s been two days since the ship escaped the destruction of Harmonia, and many of the ship’s passengers are still quite a bit shaken up from the ordeal.

Having mostly recovered from her injuries, Minerva sits in the pilot’s seat, once again manning the _Helix_ ’s controls. All seems to be running smoothly, until, suddenly, the _Helix_ unexpectedly drops out of warp space.

“Shane, what did you do?” Dmitri immediately asks.

“I have _no_ idea,” Shane tells him. “I don’t think it was me.” He attempts to bring the ship back into warp space, but finds himself unable. “I can’t get us back into warp space either.”

“The warp drive appears to be offline,” Morgan informs him.

“That’d do it,” Shane replies.

“I’m picking up some strange anomalies here,” Minerva continues. “You guys wanna check it out?”

Shane and Dmitri look out the main viewport, and see a strange looking planetoid floating nearby. “What is that?” Dmitri asks.

“I’m not entirely sure,” Shane answers. “It’s definitely not a ship or a station of any kind I recognize, and it’s not a planet either.” He reaches for the comms and broadcasts to the entire ship. “Hey guys, get up here.” Morgan, H, and Alex join them on the bridge shortly afterwards.

“What’s going on?” Morgan asks.

“See for yourself,” Minerva tells her, pointing at the mysterious object.

Morgan stares out the viewport, and she has a vision of a derelict ship. “Guys, I had another vision,” she informs the others. “I think a ship crashed on that thing.”

“Well, shall we check it out then?” Shane asks.

“Why not?” Alex answers. As she speaks, the engines suddenly blip offline.

“Well, I guess we _are_ checking it out,” Minerva says as the object’s gravity begins dragging the _Helix_ closer.

“What the hell is going on?” Alex asks as the lights begin flickering.

“I don’t know, but this is getting bad real fast!” Shane shouts.

“Brace for impact!” Minerva broadcasts over the comms.

Shane drops himself into warp space while the others strap themselves into the nearest seats they can find. The ship begins shaking violently, then everything goes black.

* * *

Shane reappears, but not on the _Helix_ , nor in space either. Looking around at his surroundings, he spots Morgan, Dmitri, H, and Alex lying unconscious around him, surrounded by some light debris. He determines that they’re on a different ship, one that looks like it hasn’t flown in quite some time. A glance out the tiny viewport reveals a graveyard of derelict vessels. “What the hell is this place?” he asks himself.

As Shane speaks, Morgan and Dmitri slowly wake up. “This… isn’t our ship,” Morgan observes.

“Yeah, no shit,” Shane tells her. “The question is, how did we get here?”

“We have to figure that out,” Morgan replies. “As soon as possible. C’mon, let’s wake them up.” She walks over to Alex and gently shakes her awake while Shane goes over to H and gives him a kick.

“Huh?” Alex groans as her eyes slowly open. “Where are we?”

“I have no fucking idea,” Shane answers from across the room.

“Let’s just figure out how to get out of here,” Dmitri says.

“Yeah,” Alex agrees. “This place is _freaking creepy_.”

“It would help to know where we are first,” Shane says. He walks over to a nearby console, but, with no power, he can’t access anything. “If I had to guess, this is some kind of Genevan cruiser or destroyer, I think,” he informs his crewmates. “But, without power, I can’t get us a map. Anyone know anything about Genevan ships?”

“I do,” Morgan speaks up. “My father designs them.” She takes another cursory glance around the room. “I’m pretty sure this is one of his designs. We should try to find our way to the front of the ship. That will be our best chance at finding the others.”

“You think the others are here?” Alex asks. A very worried expression appears on her face. “We have to find them! They could be in trouble!”

“Alright then, where do we go from here?” Shane asks Morgan.

“We appear to be in some kind of maintenance area,” Morgan observes. “We’d need to go through the reactor room to get anywhere from here,” she continues, pointing toward a nearby door.

“I can sense faint thoughts from that direction,” Dmitri speaks up. “Three people, I think.”

“That could be Naomi!” Alex says urgently. “Let’s go!” She runs toward the door, with the others close behind.

Immediately upon entering the reactor room, the _Helix_ crew sees a swarm of Gastlies swirling around a group of three people lying on the floor. The appearance of several more people seems to spook the ghost Pokemon off for the moment, and they all fade away into the shadows.

With their assailants gone, the three individuals pick themselves up. None of the crew recognize them. One is wearing a business suit, another seems to be some sort of engineer, and the third is an augmented man with bright red hair.

“Are you all okay?” Morgan asks. “Is this your ship?”

“No,” the man in the suit answers. “Our ship crashed here. We are the only survivors… Well, there were two more of us, but the ghosts got them.”

“Well, if this isn’t your ship, what the hell is going on?” Shane asks.

“We figured you’d know,” the man replies. “We crashed here and-”

“So did we,” H interrupts.

“Well, that’s just great.”

“So, who the heck are you people anyway?” Alex asks.

“I am Donald Maxwell, former Alliance senator,” the man in the suit introduces himself.

“My name is Aleksi,” the engineer introduces himself next. He appears to have a Romanov accent. “I am one of ship’s engineers. And that is Klayton,” he adds, looking over at the cybernetically augmented third individual. “He doesn’t say much.”

“Hello,” the red-haired man greets them.

“Wonderful!” H exclaims, seeing Klayton’s augmentations. “Finally, someone who _understands!_ But now we must see what we can do with this reactor.”

“Reactor is leaking,” Aleksi warns him. “We should leave room.”

“Nonsense! We should repair it. It may be useful.”

“We should get out of here,” Morgan agrees with the engineer. “H, fixing the reactor isn’t worth being exposed to whatever’s in there.”

“I think everyone who _isn’t_ a robot should get out of the room,” Maxwell suggests with a hint of prejudice, glancing over at H and Klayton. “They can turn it on, and, if it explodes, we’ll know it didn’t work.”

“Precisely!” H agrees. “If it explodes, I’ll be fine anyway.”

“It _is_ worth trying,” Shane concurs. “We should at least try to restore the power.” H and Shane walk over to the reactor and begin examining it while everyone else moves as far away as possible. The two seal up the holes in the reactor with H’s sticky grenades, then prepare to turn it on.

“Guys, this won’t hold for long,” Shane tells the others. “Once the reactor’s on, we can maybe get a few minutes before we have to shut it down. I can maybe get us a map in that timespan. H, be ready to turn it on; I’ll jump into the computer as soon as you do.”

H waves his arms around, then blasts the reactor console full of power. The lights begin to flicker and explode as the power begins to come online. As soon as the computer terminal blips on, Shane pops inside and locates the map. He only glances at it for a second before a horrifying face appears and blocks it from his view. “ _What the fuck?!_ ” Shane yells as the face unleashes a shrill scream. The terminal explodes, launching Shane out.

The sticky string covering the holes in the reactor burns off, and gas begins pouring out. The gas collects into clouds, which then begin breaking off from each other. Once it empties, the reactor shuts off once more. The smaller clouds condense themselves into four Gastles, while the rest of the gas forms into a Gengar.

“Not the Gengar again!” a frightened Aleksi shouts.

“Time to get out of here!” Maxwell shouts. The former senator runs to the nearest door and tries to open it. Unfortunately, the doors remains sealed tightly. He gives it a good kick, but does little more than hurt his toes.

“I ain’t ‘fraid of no ghosts!” Alex shouts as she pulls out a Pokeball. “Lumiera, let’s do this! Use Minimize!” As the girl’s Chandelure springs from her Pokeball, the others reach for the own Pokeballs and release their Pokemon. The ghostly chandelier shrinks herself down, becoming a much harder target to hit.

The Gengar marks the nearby Rhydon as a major threat, and summons a ball of shadowy energy, which it then lobs at the Pokemon. #1 stands up to the hit and snarls at his ghostly attacker, spinning his drill. While the Rydon seems eager to keep fighting, H recalls his Pokemon, then runs to the corner of the room and magnetizes himself to the ceiling. “#9 it is your turn!” he shouts as he releases his Floatzel. “Use Rain Dance!” The newly released Pokemon summons up storm clouds and it begins to rain.

“Jean, use Electro Ball!” Morgan commands her Pikachu. The speedy yellow mouse runs forward at the Gastly Morgan is pointing at, then leaps into the air. Jean fires off a ball of electricity at the Gas Pokemon, instantly dispelling it.

“Haxorus, use Dragon Claw!” Klayton commands his own Pokemon. The dragon Pokemon charges at another Gastly and swipes at it with one of its sharp claws. Unfortunately, the ghostly Pokemon floats up, out of harm’s way. Aleksi, meanwhile, attempts to unlock the nearest door.

“Coral, use Shadow Ball!” Maxwell instructs his Clefable, pointing toward the Gastly Klayton’s Haxorus failed to hit. The Fairy Pokemon creates a ball of shadowy energy and lobs it at the Gastly, nearly taking it out. In response, the Gastly shoots out a wave a psychic energy back at the Clefable. Luckily, the attack misses and strikes the empty reactor, causing it to rupture even further. The Pokemon then turns itself invisible to avoid being hit again.

Shane runs up to the nearest Gastly and begins glitching out as he prepares a random attack. He quickly finds himself glitched right up into the Gas Pokemon’s face, attempting to Lick it. He immediately backs off, and is extremely grateful that he didn’t make contact. The Gastly floats away and fires off another wave of psychic energy at Maxwell’s Clefable. This time, the attack lands and deals a tiny bit of damage. Morgan then runs up to it and blasts the ghost with a surge of flames from her flamethrower. In response, the Gastly glares at Morgan’s weapon and causes it to short out.

“Wilhelm, use Hypnosis!” Dmitri commands his own Gengar. The Shadow Pokemon floats over to the nearest Gastly and puts it to sleep with his hypnotic gaze. Dmitri then casts out his aura to inflict a nightmare upon the sleeping ghost.

“Hey you!” Alex shouts at the Gengar attacking her friends. She runs by the ghostly assailant and starts waving her arms at it. “I’m not afraid of you!” she yells tauntingly. The momentary distraction seems to make it lower its guard.

“Heavy-G, use Rock Slide!” Aleksi orders his Aggron. The Iron Armor Pokemon blasts a surge of rocks at the Gastly floating nearby. The rocks collide with the ghost, and reduce it back to a cloud of gas.

“V.O.I.D., use Shadow Ball!” Shane commands his Cofagrigus. The Pokemon fades into view and creates a ball of shadowy energy which it lobs at the Gengar. However, the speedy ghost dodges out of the way, causing the blast to collide with the broken reactor. The Gengar responds with its own Shadow Ball attack, delivering a nasty blow to Shane’s Pokemon.

“#9, use Substitute!” H shouts. His Floatzel creates an illusory copy of herself to use as a shield. H then charges up electricity, powering himself up for a lethal attack.

“Lumiera, use Inferno!” Alex commands her Pokemon. “Burn that Gengar!” The Chandelure floats over and unleashes a torrent of flames at the Gengar, but the Shadow Pokemon proves to be a dodgy opponent and avoids the attack. “Damn it, stay still!” Alex yells in frustration.

“Jean, use Thunderbolt! Take out that Gastly!” Morgan yells to her Pikachu. The electric mouse sparks as he fires off electricity at one of the remaining Gastlies. Unfortunately, the Gas Pokemon floats out of the way at the last second.

“Haxorus, use Shadow Claw!” Klayton commands his Pokemon, pointing at the Gengar. The Haxorus charges at the Gengar, swiping at it with one of its claws as it runs past and delivering a powerful blow.

“Wilhelm, Dream Eater!” Dmitri commands his Genegar. Wilhelm floats up to the sleeping Gastly and drains away its dream energy. Dmitri then runs up and uses his Darkrai powers to do the same, taking the Gas Pokemon out.

“Coral, use Cosmic Power!” Maxwell orders his Clefable. The Fairy Pokemon waves its arms back and forth as it builds up cosmic energy. The invisible Gastly then reappears and inflicts a Curse upon the Clefable. However, the Fairy Pokemon does not appear to mind. Shane then recalls his Cofagrigus and drops into warp space.

“Alright, Heavy-G, take down this door!” Aleksi shouts to his Aggron, having been unable to open it. “Iron Tail!” The Aggron moves in and slams the door with its thick tail, putting a giant dent in it, and bending it back.

The Gengar, locks eyes with Maxwell’s Clefable and raises its arms. Its eyes flash for a second as it Hexes the Fairy Pokemon, instantly knocking it out. As Maxwell recalls his Clefable, one of the doors on a far side of the room slides open, revealing the vacuum of space. Maxwell is ripped off his feet and dragged out. The door slams shut behind him, leaving the others staring in shock.

“Lumiera, use Inferno!” Alex shouts, snapping back to the fight at hand. Her Chandelure unleashes another surge of flames, this time engulfing the Gengar and burning it.

H then holds his hands in the air, casting volts of electricity down from the ceiling. He condenses the energy down into a ball of electricity and throws it at the Gengar. The ball explodes, and dissipates the Gengar into strands of gas. Finally, Shane reappears from warp space and strikes the remaining Gastly with his marked hand, taking it out.

With the ghosts gone, everyone breathes a sigh of relief, and gathers their wits. “Okay, what the _hell_ is going on here?!” Alex shouts, asking the question burning in everyone’s minds. Ghostly laughter echoes through the room in response to the girl’s words.

“That’s not supposed to happen,” H says firmly. 

The mad cackling seems to subside at the cyborg’s words, but it continues on inside Alex’s head, even louder than before. The girl lets out a faint whimper. “Alex, it’s okay,” Morgan tells her, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. “It’s probably just more ghost Pokemon.”

“Let’s figure this out,” Shane says. He drops himself back into warp space and takes a look around. He notices that, strangely, the galaxies of the Universe seem to have aligned. He recalls an old legend about this so-called Galactic Alignment, a legend that states strange things are said to happen during this rare occurrence.

“Okay, guys,” Shane says as he returns from warp space. “This is going to sound a bit crazy, but-”

“I’m sure it’s not as crazy as fact that you can teleport around like that,” Aleksi interrupts. “Would somebody care to explain?”

“He’s got a magic tattoo!” Alex shouts. She points a finger at the glowing mark on Shane’s arm as he makes a rude gesture with it, and intensifies the glow.

“He doesn’t like to talk about it,” Morgan informs Aleksi. “But you don’t need to worry. He’s not going to hurt you.”

“So, as I was saying,” Shane continues. “There’s some strange shit going on here.”

“Yeah, no shit,” Alex tells him.

“Have any of you heard of the tale of Galactic Alignment?” Shane asks, ignoring her.

“Galactic what?” Alex asks, sounding confused.

“Galactic Alignment,” Dmitri tells her. “It’s an old legend. Based on the way the galaxies move through the Universe, they line up roughly every ten-thousand years or so. They say that’s when the physical world and the spirit world are closest.”

“I call bullshit,” Morgan tells him.

“That’s just what the legend says,” Dmitri replies. “No one even knows where the legend originates from anyway.”

“Well, the galaxies _are_ aligned,” Shane says. “And, whatever the legends say about these kind of events, apparently they’re happening, and they’re happening _here_ , _right now_.”

“Oh, wonderful,” Aleksi says sarcastically.

“So, we know this weird thing has been going on due to some mysterious celestial event,” H says. “And we have no detail on that, so that was completely useless. Can we move on now?”

“Let’s just get out of here,” Morgan suggests.

“I would recommend against it,” H tells her. “We’re kind of missing half our crew.”

“Well, then we’ll just have to look for them.”

“Then let us move on!” H declares. He looks over at the damaged doorway. Aleksi nods at his Aggron, and the Pokemon bashes the door open completely.

* * *

The group presses onward, deeper into the ship. Alex can hear the laughter growing louder inside her head as they go. It soon becomes too much for her to take.

“ _Aaaaaahhhh!_ ” the group hears Alex scream. “Shut up! Shut up! _Shut up!_ ” She places her hands over her ears, but the laughter just won’t stop.

“Is your friend alright?” Aleksi asks the others.

“She’ll be fine,” Morgan tells him. She then turns to Alex. “Alex?”

“They won’t stop laughing at me,” the girl whimpers as she clings desperately to her Chandelure.

“They will if you embrace the glory that is _upgrading_ ,” H tells her.

“H, shut up,” Morgan snaps at him. She then walks over to Alex. “Alex, it will be alright,” she says, putting an arm around her.

As the group progresses on, the ship begins to change. Morgan notices that the further they go, the ship seems less and less like a Genevan ship. “Something doesn’t seem right here,” Morgan says to the others. “The ship is _changing_. It looks different.”

“You’re right,” Dmitri agrees. “It looks like a Romanov transport ship now. An older model by the looks of it,” he adds, taking a look around. The area the group now finds themselves in appears to be living quarters. The hallway is lined with four doors leading into rooms with beds and small desks.

Dmitri peers into one of the rooms and notes that it must be a child’s room as the floor is scattered with toys. “Creepy,” he mumbles before moving onto the next room. He finds a computer in there filled with corrupted files, but nothing of use other than a few credits.

“Let me take a look at that,” Shane says. He pops into the computer and takes a look around. Unfortunately, with all the corrupt files, he only finds out that it belonged to a family killed by Supremacist forces while attempting to flee from the Romanov civil war. “Not much of use here,” Shane tells Dmitri upon exiting the machine.

Meanwhile, Alex follows closely behind Morgan, who takes a look at one of the rooms on the other side of the corridor. Inside, the two see a body lying on the bed. Whoever it was appears to have died of space exposure. In fact, the body looks quite familiar. “Wait, isn’t this…” Morgan starts to say, recognizing the body as Senator Maxwell.

She’s interrupted by a loud crack as Maxwell’s body begins to move. All the bones crackle unnaturally as it slowly sits up. Alex lets out a shrill scream and bolts out of the room. Morgan follows close behind and quickly shuts the door as they exit.

“Oh, what are you screaming about now?” H asks Alex, sounding quite annoyed.

“There’s a _zombie_ in there!” Alex shouts.

“I hate to say it, but I think Alex is right,” Morgan agrees.

“What’s all the screaming about?” Aleksi asks as he and Klayton run over.

“She’s screaming because she’s insane,” H answers.

“No, there’s a zombie in there!” Alex shouts, pointing at the door.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Aleksi tells her as he reaches for the door console.

“ _No!_ ” Alex screams as the door opens.

Inside, the corpse's mouth opens as if to speak, but instead of air escaping from its lungs there is only darkened blood. The zombified Maxwell leaps out at the engineer and grabs onto him. Aleksi howls in pain as Maxwell bites a chunk out of his arm. The now-cursed Romanov throws the zombie off and runs away as fast as he can.

“Lumiera, kill it!” Alex screams. “ _Kill it with fire!_ Inferno!” The girl’s Chandelure unleashes a torrent of flames into the room, reducing Maxwell’s corpse to a pile of ashes. A Pokeball falls into the pile, and the corpse of Maxwell’s Clefable pops out. “No, not zombie Pokemon!” Alex cries in dismay at one of her greatest fears come to life. She turns to run, but a group of four Shuppets led by a Banette emerges from the shadows.

“Haxorus, use Outrage!” Klayton commands his Pokemon, pointing at the Banette. The Axe Jaw Pokemon charges at the ghostly entity and smashes it with its head, mauling it with its jaw blades. In response, the Banette waves its arms and inflicts a Curse upon the Haxorus and Alex’s Chandelure. Then, it vanishes.

“Jean, use Electro Ball!” Morgan instructs her Pikachu. The electric mouse jumps up and flings a ball of electricity at the zombified Clefable, knocking it back a bit.

“Lumiera, use Shadow Ball!” Alex cries. “Stop that monster!” Her Pokemon fires off a ball of energy at the zombie Pokemon, but the shot goes wide and bursts against the wall. Alex then immediately recalls Lumiera, and releases her Lucario.

Dmitri then releases his Scizor and directs it over toward the others. “Gigan, Steel Wing!” he commands the newly released Pokemon. The Scizor flies up and slices the undead Clefable with her wing, cleaving one of its arms clean off.

Meanwhile, Shane throws out his Klefki, and directs it after the group of three Shuppets floating near him and Dmitri. “K.E.Y.S., use Metal Sound!” he commands the Pokemon. The Klefki jingles his keys at them, seemingly weakening their defenses. In response, the Shuppets blast K.E.Y.S. with ghostly energy, taking him down. Luckily, the Klefki manages to blast one with a wave of thunder before falling unconscious. The other Shuppet, floating over by the others, releases a burst of ghostly flame at Dmitri’s Scizor, then turns itself invisible.

H then pulls out his Pokeball cannon and loads it up with a pester ball. “Stand clear!” he shouts as he aims it at the group of Shuppets. Shane teleports Dmitri and himself out of harm’s way as the cyborg pulls the trigger. The ball explodes in the middle of the three Shuppets, burning them with the chemicals contained within.

The zombified Clefable creates a ball of shadowy energy and throws it at Morgan’s Pikachu. However, the speedy little Pokemon dodges out of the way. “Heavy-G, Iron Head!” Aleksi commands his Aggron in response. The Iron Armor Pokemon charges at the Clefable and takes it down with a swift bash of its skull. With the Clefable out of the way, Morgan runs over to the group of Shuppets and releases a tide of flames from her flamethrower at one of them.

“Haxorus, use Shadow Claw!” Klayton orders his Pokemon. Unfortunately, the Haxorus rages about in confusion and injures itself instead.

Meanwhile, H has his Floatzel hang back and keep bulking up. The Banette then reappears and releases a blast of ghostly energy at #9, leaving the Floatzel quite injured.

“Anubis, use Swords Dance!” Alex yells to her Lucario. Anubis crosses his arms. clanking his spikes together as he builds up power. However, the Banette floats over and envelopes the Aura Pokemon, draining away the power for itself. “No, you big jerk!” Alex whines. She makes a pouty face at the Banette, distracting it and preventing it from fully absorbing Anubis’s power.

“Jean, use Thunderbolt!” Morgan shouts, directing her Pikachu after one of the Shuppets. The electric mouse sparks off bolts of electricity from his cheeks, dispelling the ghostly entity.

Shane then throws out his Spiritomb near the Shuppets. The Pokemon emerges from his ball invisible, but makes his presence known to the enemy ghosts by the pressure it exerts. Next, Shane blips back into warp space to prepare another attack.

“Gigan, Pursuit!” Dmitri commands his Scizor. “Hit that Banette!” The Scizor flies up to the Marionette Pokemon and strikes it with her claws, whittling away its defenses. Dmitri then casts out a ray of energy with his psychic abilities, sending the Banette and one of the Shuppets into a state of confusion.

The Shuppets begin floating around in a circle, preparing to attack. The one Shane’s Klefki zapped, however, suddenly freezes in place and falls out of sync with the others. One of the remaining two begins to glow, while the third inflicts a Curse upon Morgan’s Pikachu.

“Heavy-G, Shadow Claw that Banette!” Aleksi commands his Aggron. The large metal Pokemon charges at the Banette and swipes at it with its sharp claws. However, the glowing Shuppet moves in to block the attack. The critical strike annihilates the Shuppet, but, before the ghost goes down, it bonds its destiny with the Aggron, taking the Iron Armor Pokemon down with it.

As the Pokemon go down, the engineer hears the creepy tones of a music box behind him. He turns just in time to see a giant shadowy hand spring out of a jack-in-the-box lying on ground. The apparition wraps its dark fingers around Aleksi and begins dragging him back toward the box. He cries out, clawing at the floor. 

“Oh no you don’t,” Klayton reacts. “Haxorus, Shadow Claw!” Unfortunately, his Pokemon continues to rage about and hurts itself one again.

“#9, you have done your job!” H proclaims. He recalls his Floatzel, and then throws out another Pokeball. “#4, it is your time now!” He shouts as his Trevenant emerges. The cyborg then throws one of his custom plasma laser bots at the box the shadowy hand holding Aleksi originated from. The bot slices the box in half, and the hand dissipates, accompanied by a hellish scream. “You are useful, so you have been saved!” H declares.

“Let’s try this again!” Alex shouts. “Anubis, use Swords Dance!” The girl’s Lucario builds up his power once more, this time uninterrupted. “Now to pass it on to Ebony…” In one quick move, Alex recalls the Lucario, and releases her Umbreon. “ _Nyeeaaaahh!_ ” Alex taunts the Banette as she sticks her tongue out at it. Once again, she distracts the Marionette Pokemon and leaves it vulnerable to attack.

Dmitri then raises his hand and blasts the Banette with ghostly energy, delivering a nasty blow. “Now, Gigan, use Pursuit on that Shuppet!” he commands. His Scizor flies over to one of the remaining Puppet Pokemon and swipes at it with her claws.

“Jean, use Electro Ball!” Morgan shouts to her Pikachu. “Take that Shuppet out!” Jean fires off another ball of electricity, which collides with the Shuppet and takes it out with an explosion of sparks. The remaining Shuppet blasts the Pikachu with ghostly energy, and finally takes the Pokemon out.

Shane then emerges from warp space, and strikes the Banette with his marked hand, further whittling it down. “T.O.M.B., use Feint Attack!” he then commands his Pokemon. The Spiritomb becomes visible and floats over to the Banette. T.O.M.B. casts out a shadowy hand to strike the enemy ghost, then vanishes once again.

Morgan recalls her fainted Pikachu and sends out her Samurott. “Herman, use Razor Shell!” Her Pokemon runs up to the Banette, and strikes it with his shell blade. Morgan follows up the attack with a burst from her flamethrower, but the Banette floats out of the way.

“Ebony, use Feint Attack!” Alex instructs her Umbreon. Ebony charges up to the Banette and strikes it from behind, causing it to flinch.

“Haxorus, use Shadow Claw!” Klayton commands, directing his Pokemon to attack the Banette. The Haxorus’s neck blades glow purple as it rushes the Marionette Pokemon. With one fell strike, it tears it right in two. As it fades away, the Banette unleashes a blast of ghostly energy, taking the Haxorus down with it.

As his Pokemon goes down, a small wind-up toy comes to life and flies over at Klayton, brandishing a wind-up key. As it gets close, Klayton manages to punt it away, knocking it into the wall. H then fires off a massive wave of electricity, taking out the remaining Shuppet and the toy assaulting Klayton.

As the group recalls their fainted Pokemon, Aleksi collapses to the ground, finally succumbing to the cursed bite wound the zombified Maxwell inflicted upon him. Dmitri walks over and checks his pulse, confirming that he has, in fact, died. He then pats down his fellow Romanov’s body and locates his Pokeball. He stands back up and sticks the ball in his pocket. “So it doesn’t come back to kill us later,” he explains when he sees the others giving him funny looks.

“A great idea!” H commends him. “We should also burn the body!”

“I agree,” Shane concurs. He pulls out a Pokeball and releases his Delphox. “G.W.Y.N., use Overheat,” he commands the Pokemon. The Delphox fires a blast of flames at Aleksi’s lifeless body, reducing him to ashes.

H immediately collects a sample of the ashes. “I must study these, because zombies _don’t_ exist!”

* * *

As the remainder of the group waits around, seeing to their Pokemon’s injuries and preparing for the possibility of another fight, they begin to get the feeling that they’re being watched. They turn, observing the silhouette of a little girl holding a doll standing in the doorway. She turns and walks around the corner, and the sound of faint giggling floats back down the hall into the room.

“Enough of this!” H shouts, blasting a wave of electricity out the door. More giggling floats into the room, as if to taunt him.

“H, you’re not actually hitting anything,” Shane tells him as he peeks his head around the corner. He spots the little girl fading into the darkness of the long hallway. “C’mon guys, let’s go,” he says, waving the others to follow.

The group proceeds down the long corridor, and, once again, the style of the ship begins to change, this time morphing to a design they’ve never seen before. To Alex, it starts to seem a bit familiar; it reminds her of the ruins back on Vandia. She hears the creepy giggling echoing in her mind as she draws the conclusion. Alex reaches out and tightly grips Morgan’s arm for comfort.

Eventually, the corridor opens up into a large chamber with some sort of statue in the center. “This place seems familiar,” Shane says. “This is like some sort of prayer room from the previous cycle. And that statue is _definitely_ a Cofagrigus,” he adds, glancing over at his own Cofagrigus for confirmation.

“If that is the case, then we must do this right!” H declares. “We must attack it before it attacks us!” The group commands their Pokemon to attack the dormant Cofagrigus, landing several hits, both poisoning and burning it, and leaving it disoriented. Unfortunately, as many of them move into the room, they step on poisonous spikes littered across the floor, becoming poisoned themselves.

“Lumiera, use Hex!” Alex commands her Chandelure as the Cofagrigus wakes up. “You too, V.O.I.D.!” Shane commands his own Cofagrigus. The two ghost Pokemon, along with Dmitri, unleash a triple Hex attack on the enemy Cofagrigus, delivering a very nasty blow.

“Blaise, use Sunny Day!” Morgan commands her Charmeleon. The Flame Pokemon shoots a ball of fire up, into the center of the room, creating a miniature sun that illuminates the room. Morgan then sprays the Cofagrigus with her flamethrower, burning away more of its defensive outer shell.

“#4, use Growth!” H commands his Trevenant. Taking advantage of the sunlight, #4 builds up power quickly and increases in size. Meanwhile, Shane drops himself into warp space.

The Cofagrigus floats up into the air and prepares to attack, but it ends up flubbing its attack in its disoriented state. “Ha! You stupid ghost!” Alex taunts it. “Lumiera, use Shadow Ball!” Keeping her distance, Alex’s Chandelure fires off a ball of shadowy energy, which collides with the Cofagrigus and knocks several more pieces of its coffin shell away.

“Blaise, use Flame Burst!” Morgan instructs her Charmeleon. As her Pokemon spits out a burst of flames, Morgan immediately shoots off her own with her flamethrower. Unfortunately, the Cofagrigus floats out of the way of both hits.

“I will show you how it’s done!” H shouts. He fires off a giant bolt of electricity at the Cofagrigus, knocking it out and blasting open the front of the coffin, revealing the charred corpse of Aleksi. The burnt zombie lets out a disgusting gurgling noise as four Yamasks appear behind the group.

Shane immediately drops out of warp space and slams one of the Yamasks with his marked hand. “V.O.I.D., use Shadow Ball!” he then commands his Cofagrigus. The Coffin Pokemon blasts another of the Yamasks with a ball of ghostly energy.

The Yamasks ignore Shane and his Pokemon and all float over to #4. They all blast the Trevenant with ghostly energy. “Teleport out of there!” H commands his Pokemon. The first three Yamasks land their attacks, but #4 warps out of the way of the last, managing to keep himself from going down.

Meanwhile, the burnt zombie that was Aleksi shambles toward Klayton and grabs onto him. Klayton wrestles against his undead assailant, but neither gains the upper hand.

“Lumiera, use Hex!” Alex shouts to her Chandelure, directing it after one of the injured Yamasks. However, Lumiera is unable to land the hit.

“Blaise, use Flame Burst!” Morgan commands her Charmeleon, pointing to the same Yamask. This time, Blaise’s attack lands and takes the Pokemon out. Morgan then recalls the Charmeleon and releases her Binnacle.

“#4, use Phantom Force!” H commands his Trevenant. The ghostly tree vanishes from sight as it prepares to attack.

“V.O.I.D., use Ominous Wind!” Shane yells to his Cofagrigus. V.O.I.D. floats up to one of the Yamasks and opens her coffin lid, blasting out a gust of ghostly wind, which takes her target down.

“Lumiera, use Shadow Ball!” Alex commands her Pokemon. The Chandelure fires off a blast of ghostly energy at one of the two remaining Yamasks. The shot plows right through it and destroys it in an explosion of shadows. #4 then reappears behind the final Yamask and smashes it with one of his powerful limbs. The ghostly Pokemon collides with the ground and its mask shatters.

With the Yamasks taken care of, the crew looks over at Aleksi’s zombie slowly pulling Klayton toward the Cofagrigus coffin. Before anyone can do anything to help, the burnt corpse drags the cyborg down into the coffin and the lid slams shut.

“We are just amazing at saving people,” H says dryly. “Now, let us move on!”

* * *

Pressing onward, the crew eventually arrives at what appears to be the bridge of this ancient ship. A little girl, no more than six years of age, stands in the center of the room. She stares at the crew with her glowing red eyes, and an innocent, yet sinister, smile slowly spreads across her face.

“Hi,” she greets them in a cute, but incredibly unnerving, tone of voice. “Will you play with me?” The doors slam shut behind the crew as she asks the question.

Now that she can see her tormentor for what she really is, Alex feels her fear replaced with determination. A Chandelure, a Mismagius, and a Froslass appear around the little girl as she locks eyes with Alex.

The little girl points at the crew and her Froslass summons a massive blast a freezing air. The attack collides with Shane’s Cofagrigus and Morgan’s Charmeleon, and freezes both of them solid! Her Mismagius then fires a wave of psychic energy at Dmitri’s Gengar, dealing a powerful blow.

“Lumiera, use Minimize!” Alex commands her Chandelure. The ghostly chandelier shrinks herself down, becoming a smaller target. The little girl smiles creepily at Alex as her own Chandelure does the same.

“Wilhelm, Shadow Ball!” Dmitri instructs his Gengar as he points at the Mismagius that attacked him. The Shadow Pokemon creates a ball of shadowy energy and tosses it at the Mismagius, getting a bit of payback.

“#7, use Safeguard!” H commands his Swablu. The Cotton Bird Pokemon shrouds the crew and their Pokemon with a protective veil of energy as H pulls out his Pokeball cannon. The cyborg fires off a pester ball at the clump of ghost Pokemon which explodes into a cloud of noxious fumes, poisoning them.

Due to his hot internal body temperature, the ice surrounding Morgan’s Charmeleon melts away. “Blaise, use Sunny Day!” Morgan shouts as her Pokemon frees himself of his icy prison. The Charmeleon creates another miniature sun in the room that Morgan hopes will help defrost Shane’s Pokemon. She then blasts the Froslass with her flamethrower.

The Froslass ignores Morgan and casts a Hex upon Shane’s frozen Cofagrigus, delivering a nasty injury. Miraculously, the Coffin Pokemon manages to stay up. Just to be safe, Shane recalls his Pokemon and throws out his Spiritomb instead. Meanwhile, the Mismagius shoots a mystical blast of fire at Dmitri’s Gengar.

“Lumiera, use Inferno!” Alex yells to her Chandelure. Lumiera releases a torrent of flames at the Froslass, horribly burning it. Somehow, the frigid ghost manages to survive.

“Blaise, use Flame Burst!” Morgan commands her Charmeleon, directing it after the Froslass. Blaise spits out a burst of flames, and finishes it off.

“Yeah! Teamwork!” Alex shouts victoriously.

Rushing to its friend’s aid, the enemy Chandelure unleashes a massive tide of hellish flames at the _Helix_ crew and their Pokemon, filling almost the entire hallway. Alex quickly leaps backwards, out of harm’s way, and H grapples himself onto the ceiling, also avoiding the attack. Meanwhile, Morgan uses her psionic abilities to avoid being hurt, and Shane uses his brand to swap his position with that of the Mismagius, causing it to be hit by the attack instead. The crew’s Pokemon are not so lucky; H’s Swablu, Dmitri’s Gengar, and Morgan’s Charmeleon are instantly brought down by the powerful attack.

“T.O.M.B., use Ominous Wind!” Shane commands his Spiritomb while the others switch out their Pokemon. T.O.M.B. blasts the enemy Chandelure with ghostly wind. After landing his attack, the Spiritomb turns invisible.

Back on the other end of the room, the Mismagius launches a ball of shadowy energy at Alex’s Chandelure, nearly taking her down. “Let’s see how _you_ like it!” Alex shouts angrily, pointing her finger at the magical ghost. “Lumiera, use Inferno!” The ghostly chandelier blasts the Mismagius with a stream of fire, taking it down. However, the Mismagius drags Lumiera down with it with a final Curse.

“You’ll pay for that!” Alex responds as she recalls her fainted Pokemon. “Leviathan! Water Spout!” She yells as she releases her most powerful Pokemon. As it emerges, the Storm Leviathan floods the bridge with a massive burst of water. Unfortunately, the enemy Chandelure phases through a piece of the architecture and avoids getting hit.

“Use Feint Attack!” Both Shane and H command their Pokemon. The Spiritomb and the Trevenant rush the Chandelure and strike it with their shadowy attacks as it emerges from the other side of the column.

“Now, Razor Shell!” Morgan yells to her Samurott. Herman runs up the the ghostly chandelier and slashes at it with his shell blade, further whittling it down.

The Chandelure begins to glow, then casts out a massive blast of spectral energy at H’s Trevenant. “Teleport!” H commands the ghost tree just in time.

“Now, finish it with Water Pulse, Leviathan!” Alex yells. Her powerful Pokemon fires a blast of water at the Chandelure, and takes it down. “ _Yeah!_ Play with that, _bitch!_ ” Alex shouts triumphantly, pointing her finger at the creepy little girl.

The little girl giggles as she looks right at Alex. “That was fun,” she says. “Maybe we can play again sometime… _after you die_...” The words send a chill down Alex’s spine.

The little girl waves as she slowly fades away with her Pokemon, and the ship rumbles as if it’s about to jump. The crew begins to drift off, and everything fades to black...

* * *

(To the tune of "Land of the Dead" by Voltaire)

They wake up on the _Helix_  
It seems no time has passed  
They reach into their pockets and  
Each finds that they now has

One anomaly badge  
And six rare candies too  
Minerva says they’re all insane  
But hey what else is new?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Despite being released nearly a month after Halloween, this was the special Halloween session of Spacemon we had on the actual date of Halloween 2015! It was a very special session that was also part Halloween party, so we had a few guest players! A good friend of mine, plus two players from the PTU game that Shane's player was GMing at the time participated and played the roles of Aleksi, Klayton, and Senator Maxwell. The GM let them each build one Pokemon and gave them a general story of how they wound up on the spooky ghost ship. Their own backstories were theirs to bullshit. Although most of it didn’t make it into the write-up for the sake of narrative flow, I’ve gotta give real credit to the guy who came up with Senator Maxwell for giving us some good comic relief during the session!
> 
> The GM put a ton of effort into this special session in the form of the equivalent of a spooky, scary Ghost Gym, and a seasonally appropriate bit of lore! He even came prepared with lots of great music, including a spectacular splicing of the intro to The Nightmare Before Christmas and the intro music to like every Pokemon movie. Plus he made some fantastic music choices for all the encounters. And, finally, he wrapped it up with the song “Land of the Dead” by Voltaire and surprised us all by singing his own custom final verse, seen above.
> 
> This was a fun and unique session, but some of the fights seemed to drag on just a bit too long. Other than that, it was a great experience. Funnily enough, I kept rolling my lowest possible roll on the Focus skill, a straight up 1, for all the creepy laughter until the very end when I rolled my highest roll of 6. So, Alex had a very personal interaction with this “Gym.”
> 
> In the end, we all got crapload of EXP and six rare candies! So much leveling up! Our Pokemon were all pretty underleveled for where we were in the campaign, but not anymore!


	75. Volume 3, Chapter 9: The Meta Game

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Helix crew and their allies pool their resources and make a plan.

The _UAS Helix_ flies through warp space, drawing ever nearer to its destination. The events of the past few days had left everyone on edge, but now, with time and distance, reality is starting to sink in, and they look toward figuring out their next move. Minerva sits on the bridge, once again piloting the ship, while Arlon sits beside her in the co-pilot’s seat, feet up on the console, scrolling through the ship’s mission logs.

Hearing the sound of footsteps, Minerva looks back to see Morgan and Shane walking onto the bridge, accompanied by none other than Meta. “What is _she_ still doing here?” the pilot asks her employers.

“Meta has agreed to help us track down I,” Shane explains.

“Because that went _so_ well last time,” Minerva points out. “I wonder who she’ll stab this time.”

“Meta was coerced against her will before,” Morgan tells the pilot. “I… He put a bomb in her head.”

“That makes it _so_ much better,” Minerva responds as she rubs her wound.

“Well, we did take it out,” Shane informs her. “And, honestly, I understand why she wants to help us take him down after that.”

“Yup,” Meta agrees. “ _Nobody_ gets away with messing with _my_ brain.”

“Just wait until you find the second bomb in her-” Minerva grumbles.

“There is no second bomb, luv,” Arlon cuts her off. “We made bloody sure of that. If we weren’t sure we could trust her, I would have shot her myself.”

“Well, that’s _encouraging_ ,” Meta says dryly.

“You did try to kill my friends, luv.”

“...Fair point.”

“Anyway,” Shane says, getting the discussion back on track. “The bottom line is, she’s going to be staying with us.”

“How _exciting_ ,” Minerva replies sarcastically.

“We’ve also been talking,” Shane continues. “And we’ve decided that Meta is going to cover your medical bills.”

“Whatever,” Minerva tells him. “I was just gonna make you guys pay for it anyway.”

“So, we good?” Meta asks.

“Sure,” Minerva tells her. “As long as, you know, you don’t stab me _again_. I like my blood to be on the _inside_ of my body.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Great, now we’re all bloody chums again,” Arlon comments.

“How _wonderful_ ,” Minerva says as she turns back to the controls. 

“So, how about we get you set up somewhere?” Shane asks Meta as they turn to leave the bridge.

“That would be great,” Meta answers.

The two head for the elevator and step inside. Shane hits the button and it starts heading down to the lower deck. “I hear you’re a ridiculously good hacker,” Shane tells Meta.

“Like you wouldn’t believe,” Meta responds. Shane notes a hint of arrogance in her voice.

“Well, if you want, maybe we can collaborate?” Shane continues. “Maybe make some sort of cyber lab hacker network thing?”

“That would be preferable,” Meta answers. “I would like somewhere to be in my element.”

The elevator arrives at the lower deck and the two step out. “I think I can help you with that,” Shane tells Meta as he leads her back toward the room between his warp lab and Dmitri’s lab. “This room’s not currently in use, so it’s all yours.”

Meta drops her bag on the floor of the room and starts pulling things out of it. It’s not a whole lot, but Shane does note some very advanced looking hardware. “These ones were, shall we call them _gifts_ from our _friend_. But I’ll need more than just this.” She pulls out her Pokedex and presses a few buttons. “Here’s a list of what I need.”

“I’ll see what I can find,” Shane tells her as he looks over the list. He does notice that it includes the cyber-weapon. “Next time we’re on a civilized planet we can pick up whatever we don’t have on hand right now. Although, I’m not sure we’ll be able to get the cyber-weapon.” 

“Well, if you want this to be the best cyber-warfare suite _ever_ , you’ll get it for me.”

* * *

Back on the upper deck, Alex wanders the corridors searching for Naomi. Over the past few days, she has been getting increasingly stressed out and desperately needs to confide in the one person she trusts the most. Finally checking the mess hall, Alex spots Naomi and her father sitting at the table, each eating a bowl of slop and avoiding conversation.

“It’s like a Goddamn third world planet,” Alex hears Naomi’s father mumble to himself as he habitually checks his Pokedex for updates on his company’s status. As the head of a major Alliance corporation based on Harmonia, Jonathan Pierce is very desperate for any information. Of course, he can’t actually get any updates as the ship is still in warp space.

Alex shakes her head, then walks up to the table. She places a hand on Naomi’s back to get her attention. Naomi looks up at Alex and gives her a warm smile. “Hey,” she greets her. She doesn’t say much of anything else, and glances over at her father.

“When will we be getting out of warp space?” the man asks, finally looking up from his Pokedex. “I need to get back in communication with my business contacts. It’s _very_ urgent.”

“Like another day or something,” Alex guesses. “I don’t know.”

“That’s too long.”

“Well, that’s your fault.”

“Now, look here,” Pierce responds, sounding quite annoyed with Alex. “I run one of the largest corporations _in the Galaxy_ , and right now we’re _bleeding_ credits.”

“Your entire planet blew up and all you care about is _money?_ ” Alex asks. She’s appalled by the idea.

“You’re too young to understand the intricacies of the Galaxy,” the man responds.

“I bet I know more about the Galaxy than you,” Alex mumbles under her breath.

“If my company were to collapse, the ramifications would be catastrophic,” Pierce continues, completely dismissing Alex. “Trillions upon trillions of people would lose their jobs.”

“All those jobs won’t matter with that monster flying around ripping planets in _freaking half!_ ”

“Childish nonsense,” the man mutters to himself, flustered. “If you’ll excuse me, I have very important business to attend to.” He turns back to his Pokedex and resumes his neurotic cycle of mashing the refresh button. Naomi just sighs, then pushes her finished bowl of slop away and stands up.

Hearing the argument as he passes, Shane steps into the room. “Everything alright in here?” he asks.

“Yeah,” Alex answers. “We were just leaving.” She grabs Naomi by the arm and angrily storms out of the room with her.

“Alex, are you okay?” Naomi asks as the two girls arrive at Alex’s room.

“Yes,” Alex answers. “I mean, uh, I… I don’t know… I just _really_ need to talk to you.”

“You know I’ll always listen to what you have to say,” Naomi tells her. “What’s wrong?”

“It’s just that I… back on Harmonia… I’m really glad we found each other again, but…” Alex trails off as she tries to find the words.

“But, what?” Naomi asks.

“I just keep thinking that if we didn’t run into each other… you could have… and then we got separated and I… if we hadn’t been there, you could have died and I would never have known how you really felt.” Alex throws her arms around Naomi and hugs her desperately as she begins to cry.

“It’s _okay_ ,” Naomi tells her as she pulls her closer. She rubs Alex’s back as she tries to comfort her. “That doesn’t matter now because you _were_ there. You said it yourself, we were _meant_ to find each other again. And now we’re here, _together_.”

“I just don’t want to lose you again,” Alex says as she looks up at Naomi. “I _can’t_.”

“I’m not going _anywhere_.” Naomi places her hands on Alex’s shoulders and looks her right in the eyes. “There’s nowhere in the Galaxy I’d rather be than _right here_ , _with you_.”

Alex stands up on her toes, putting herself at the same level as Naomi. She leans in and plants a kiss on the other girl’s lips. Naomi’s hands slide down Alex’s back as she pulls her up against herself. Alex feels all her fears and pain fade away, replaced only by love and joy.

* * *

After several more hours, the _Helix_ drops out of warp space at the rendezvous point the crew set with the Red Suns. The _Corsair_ follows close behind, and the two ships dock. Arlon returns to his ship to meet with his men, but he returns shortly thereafter and summons the _Helix_ crew to the bridge.

“As you know, I’ve reviewed your mission logs while I’ve been on your ship,” the Red Suns’ leader says once they have gathered. “It seems you lot have gotten yourself into some pretty _interesting_ situations since I’ve been gone. Now it’s my turn to get you up to speed on what _I_ know.” He pulls out a datapad and hands it to Shane. “Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve had my tech expert, Matthias, work on decrypting everything we pulled from Mr. Silver’s network. What would have taken months, or even _years_ , was done in only a fraction of that time thanks to the cyber-weapon. Everything you need to know is in there.” He eyes the datapad now in Shane’s hands.

“Thanks,” Shane tells the mercenary. “I’m sure this will be very helpful.”

“Indeed, mate. There are a lot of references to something known as ‘Project Mewtwo’ in there. I think it’s safe to assume that’s where our little planet-destroying _friend_ came from.”

“Mewtwo?” Shane asks.

“That’s a _stupid_ name,” Minerva comments.

“Well, I certainly didn’t come up with it, luv,” Arlon tells her.

“Yeah… I bet.”

“Anyway,” Arlon continues. “This thing… this _Mewtwo_ … There’s more of them. We uncovered locations of many other sites and there’s probably even more. It’s only a matter of time before we have more than just one of these bastards flying around the Galaxy.”

“That’s a problem,” Dmitri replies.

“That’s certainly an understatement, mate,” Arlon tells him. “One took down an entire fleet and ripped a bloody planet in half, and the Federation has still done bugger all about it. If more of them wake up, we’re going to be in a right mess.”

“So, we should try taking them out before then,” Morgan suggests.

“That’s the idea, luv,” Arlon agrees. “I was about to deploy my fleet to start doing that before Harmonia went to shit.”

“You have a fleet?” Shane asks.

“You’re damn right I do, mate,” Arlon answers, a grin flashing across his face. “It’s already on its way here. But, while we wait, we ought to plan our next move.”

“Well, we still need to meet up with Hondo,” Shane tells him. “The coordinates aren’t very far from here, actually.”

“If that’s the case, then perhaps we’ll join you, mate. If we all put our heads together, I’m sure we’ll come up with a way to deal with this I fellow… and that Mewtwo.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Shane agrees. “We’ll send you the coordinates.”

“Great. Now, before I get back to the _Corsair_ , is there anything else you lot need?”

“There was one other thing,” Shane tells the Red Suns’ leader.

“Oh?” Arlon asks.

“Meta and I are planning to create a cyber-warfare suite aboard the _Helix_. One of the things she asked for was the cyber-weapon.”

“Are you sure we can trust her with something so powerful just yet?”

“From what she said, it sounded like she didn’t want it for herself, but wanted to install it on the _Helix_. I’ll let her ask you herself.” Shane reaches for the comms. “Hey, Meta, get up to the bridge. The guys with the cyber-weapon are here if you want to ask them for it.”

The hacker appears on the bridge only a few short moments later. “So, are you gonna give me the cyber-weapon or not?” she asks Arlon.

“Why should I trust you with it, luv?” the Red Suns’ leader asks her.

“Well, clearly _you_ haven’t been using it to its full potential.”

“We used it to steal massive amounts of data from Mr. Silver,” Arlon informs her.

“And that’s it?” Meta asks. “That’s such a waste. If you’re just going to let it sit there, then you really don’t deserve to have it.”

“And you do?” Arlon asks her.

“ _Please_. I’ve already thought of three-hundred-and-six _phenomenal_ uses for it. _Gimme_.”

“Well, I suppose we’ve used it for everything that we need,” the mercenary says. He then turns to Shane. “Just… keep an eye on her, mate.”

“Trust me, we’ll be working together on this,” Shane assures him.

“I don’t suppose you’ve got any of the other stuff I need lying around?” Meta asks.

“Give me the list,” Arlon tells her. “I’ll see if Matthias can spare any equipment.”

Meta sends him the list, and he quickly forwards it on to Matthias. The hacker responds quickly, informing his boss that he’s got extras of everything on the list.

“You’re in luck, luv; we’ve got everything you need,” Arlon informs Meta. “I’ll have it sent over with the cyber-weapon.”

“Excellent,” Meta replies.

“Well, now that that’s taken care of, I’d best get back to the _Corsair_.” Arlon turns to leave, but he spots Pierce pacing back and forth, watching his company fall apart in real time. “You never did explain what you brought him along for,” the Red Suns’ leader says to his former crewmates. “We _were_ ripping off credits from ASI, but, with Harmonia gone, he’s not of much use anymore.”

“Well, he would have died if we didn’t take him with us,” Morgan tells him.

“So would everyone else on the planet,” Arlon counters. “Yet, out of everyone, you chose _this_ schmuck.”

“Friend of a friend… of a friend,” Shane tells him.

Arlon just raises an eyebrow. Shane points over at Alex and Naomi on the far side of the bridge, holding hands. Arlon raises his other eyebrow. “Huh,” the mercenary says as he strokes his facial scruff. “Talk about a bloody small galaxy,” he mumbles to himself, recalling Naomi mentioning a Sinai girl when she helped the Red Suns infiltrate her father’s business.

“Anyway,” Arlon says, turning his gaze back to Pierce. “What are you planning on doing with this guy? I get the feeling you don’t want to keep him around.”

“We can just give him to you, right?” Morgan asks.

“Uh, sure,” Arlon answers. “I’m sure I can find some use for him. Cheers.” The Red Suns’ leader turns away and walks over to the businessman. “Mr. Pierce! Today’s your lucky day, mate!”

“Huh?” Pierce responds, glancing up from his Pokedex.

“I’m here to take you back to civilization,” Arlon informs him.

“Well, it’s about damn time,” the man tells him. “I’m glad someone around here finally understands the importance of my work.”

“ _Riiight_. Well, my ship’s this way.” Arlon heads for the airlock and motions for Pierce to follow.

“Excellent,” he responds as he follows. “Come along, Naomi.” He waves for his daughter to follow, but doesn’t even bother to check if she does. Naomi, of course, chooses to stay with Alex on the _Helix_.

* * *

As the _Helix_ flies through warp space toward the rendezvous with Hondo, Meta and Shane work to set up the new cyber-warfare suite. “Here’s everything you need to do to get this place running,” Meta tells Shane, providing him a list of detailed instructions for setting up the new equipment. “It’s easy, so I’m sure you’ll figure it out.”

“What will you be doing, then?” Shane asks her as he looks over the list. When he doesn’t get an answer, he looks up to see Meta standing there, ogling the cyber-weapon with an almost lusty look in her eyes.

Suddenly, H barges into the room. “Hello. I’ve come to call upon a small debt,” he announces.

The hacker continues to stare hungrily at the cyber-weapon, oblivious to the cyborg’s presence. Shane taps her on the shoulder, then points over at H.

“Oh, hello,” Meta says, finally prying her eyes away.

“Adjusting to the accommodations?” H asks.

“Uh, yeah. You could say that.”

“Wonderful. Well, I’ve come to collect upon your debt. You no longer have a bomb in your head, would you mind helping me out with something?”

“Well…” she pretends to think really hard about it. “You _did_ save my life.”

“Wonderful. Well, as you can see, fate is cruel and I am currently incredibly in debt to this wonderful… _thing_ over there.” He points at Shane.

“He still owes _me_ money,” Shane whispers into Meta’s ear.

“I was hoping you could alleviate that,” H continues. “And allow funding for all of my other projects, for the sake of the whole Universe.”

“What kind of funding are we talking here?” Meta asks.

“How much can you get?”

“How much do you need?”

“At a bare minimum, twenty-five thousand to pay off my debt,” H tells her. “The funding is another story entirely.”

“Well, here’s five-thousand now,” Meta responds, quickly transferring him some credits. “I’ll crack the rest later. As for your funding, I’ll need to see what you’re working on first.”

“Right this way!” H exclaims. The cyborg reaches out and grabs Meta’s arm. “Onward!” H marches out of the room, dragging the hacker along with him.

* * *

The _Helix_ drops out of warp space at the coordinates Hondo provided, shortly followed by the _Corsair_ and the entirety of the Red Suns’ fleet, now numbering at around thirty assorted vessels, including a Romanov Supremacy Broadsword class heavy cruiser. The scanners pick up Hondo’s ship floating nearby. Shane hails the ship and Hondo’s face soon appears on the viewscreen.

“Ah, you made it,” the smuggler greets them. “And I see you brought… _friends_.”

“Yeah, well, we ran into the Red Suns and thought we’d bring them along,” Shane tells him.

“I see. Well, it seems your friend Arlon has done very well for himself. But anyways, what happened?”

“Long. Chaotic. Boring,” H answers. “Have you actually done anything yet?”

“I see he’s just as friendly as ever,” Hondo grumbles.

“Yeah,” Shane says with a sigh. “But he’s not entirely wrong. A lot has happened since we last spoke.”

“Well, why don’t you dock so we can discuss this in person?”

Hondo’s ship and the _Corsair_ move in, and the two vessels dock on opposite sides of the _Helix_. Hondo and Rodriguez, as well as Arlon and his lieutenants step aboard the _Helix_ and converge with the crew just outside the situation room.

“Well, looks like the gang’s all here,” Arlon observes.

“So it would seem,” Hondo agrees.

“Long time no see, Commander,” Luke greets Rodriguez.

“Good to see you, Anderson,” the commander replies. “Didn’t expect to see you here. How’s the merc life treating you?”

“Wait, you two know each other?” Shane asks.

“Yeah, I served under the commander in Drapion company before I signed on with the Red Suns,” Luke informs him.

“Bloody small Galaxy, innit?” Arlon laughs.  “But enough about that, let’s get down to business here.”

“Yes, we have much to discuss,” Hondo agrees.

“Shall we?” Shane asks, motioning toward the door to the situation room.

* * *

“That’s… messed up,” Rodriguez comments. The _Helix_ crew had just informed the commander and Hondo of Meta’s previous situation.

“ _Yup_ ,” Meta agrees, giving Rodriguez a look he is all too familiar with.

“That just proves the kind of bastard we’re dealing with here,” Arlon chimes in. “From what I’ve heard, I is definitely a major threat.”

“But what about that monster?” Alex asks. “It ripped the planet _in half!_ ”

“I saw,” Hondo tells her, pointing at the news report playing in the background.

“Gotta love Alliance news networks,” Arlon sighs, hearing the talking heads on the screen wildly speculating.

“Was Harmonia destroyed by Romanov terrorists?” one of the anchors asks. “Find out at eleven!”

“Oh, you’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” Arlon responds. “They have no idea what they’re talking about. We, on the other hand, _do_ know what really happened, and we should act. Otherwise, that Mewtwo is going to keep on destroying more worlds.”

“We don’t have the capability to fight something like that,” H tells him. “I say we go after I first. We know where his base is and we know we actually stand a chance against him.”

“Not to mention that’s probably where he’s keeping the Eye of Aether,” Meta chimes in.

“Precisely,” H agrees. “With the Eye, we might actually stand a chance against that Mewtwo, which is why we need to go after I _first_.”

“Alright then,” Arlon concedes. “What’s our play going to be? These coordinates are in Supremacist-occupied Genevan space, so getting there isn’t going to be easy.”

“I can free-warp the _Helix_ in,” Shane offers. “We can slip right past the Romanovs.”

“I saw that in your mission logs,” Arlon comments. “That’s quite impressive. If you lot think you can handle I on your own, then I think that’s the best course of action to take here.”

“We can handle I,” Morgan assures him.

“Well, that settles it then,” the Red Suns’ leader decides. “You lot will move on I’s base. In the meantime, the rest of us will figure out a solution for the Mewtwos. Good luck out there.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> While we, as players and readers, have known since the end of Volume 2, we can now finally put a name to our foe in-game: Mewtwo! I’d actually been trying to push this for probably over a month before this chapter was posted. The GM approved the Red Suns having decoded the data stolen from Mr. Silver a while ago and I knew that that’s how we could start calling the “abomination” Mewtwo, but we just needed the right moment to do it. But a heck of a lot more happened in this chapter, which was actually about an hour of a six-hour session. Dialogue really beefs up that page count. Just like with some previous chapters, there was a lot of like loose descriptions with some RP mixed in during the actual session, and I took some liberties to make it all come together nicely for some great character interactions. It was fun to just stick Meta, Minerva, and Arlon in the same room and make all the sass happen. Then we got Meta hooked up with the cyber-weapon so now the Helix has a badass cyber-warfare suite! Resolving Naomi’s father was amusing as well. The GM rolled like crap on his perception rolls, so he left the Helix totally thinking Naomi was with him… Some father he is. I did end up adding that extra bit between Alex and Naomi. It had been something I wanted to get to in-game, but we were short on time so the GM just told me to add it in for the write-up. Finally, this chapter wraps up with planning! I converted our player discussions into an exchange between various characters for a lot of it, and I also used it as a way to set up for the final part of Seeing Red, which is just around the corner.


	76. Volume 3, Chapter 10: Sins of the Father

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Helix crew assaults I's base.

The _UAS Helix_ drops out of warp space at the coordinates in Sector 9 in Genevan space of the supposed location of I’s base. A large space station clearly not of Genevan design is the only object in this stretch of space. The station dwarfs the _Helix_ , its three massive wings stretching out from the central column for over a kilometer in each direction.

“That thing is freaking huge,” Alex gasps, fully aware of its exact size.

“Well, they don’t seem to have noticed us,” Meta observes. “I can hack in so we can dock.”

“Do it,” Morgan tells her.

“Aim for that wing there,” Meta instructs Minerva, pointing her toward the nearest wing to the _Helix_. As Minerva brings the ship in, Meta whips out her Pokedex and begins breaking into the station’s systems.

“Door’s opening,” the hacker informs the crew. “And I’ve managed to disable their weapons for about… thirty seconds! I suggest you board now so we can get the hell out of here.”

Morgan, H, Dmitri, Shane, and Alex run through the airlock and onto the station, right into a group of guards. “Hey!” one shouts as they throw out their Pokemon and raise their laser rifles.

Faced with a Vespiquen, a Lumineon, a Sharpedo, and a Spinda, the _Helix_ crew reach for their own Pokeballs. As the battle commences, a lone Genesect moves in to assist the guards.

“Behold perfection!” H declares as he releases his Floatzel. “#9, use Rain Dance!” The cyborg magnetizes himself to the ceiling as his Pokemon summons up a rain storm. He then fires off a blast of electricity at the Sharpedo, instantly taking it down.

“Alright Dozer, you’re up,” Alex says as she releases her Venusaur. “Use Growth!” The Pokemon builds up power as he and his trainer move in.

Assessing the battlefield, the Genesect locks onto Dmitri’s Blaziken and fires off a giant blast of water. Surprisingly, the Blaziken stays standing.

“Vespiquen, Defend Order!” one of the guards commands. The Vespiquen flies forward and surrounds itself with a living shield.

“Lumineon, use Water Gun!” another guard directs his Pokemon after Morgan’s Pikachu. The fish Pokemon floats forward and shoots off a burst of water at the electric mouse, barely hurting him at all.

“Roman, Overheat!” Dmitri commands his own Pokemon. The Blaziken moves in and unleashes a blast of fire at both the Lumineon and the Genesect. While the Lumineon is unfazed, the fires burn through the Genesect’s armor.

“C.A.L.I., finish it off with Psycho Cut!” Shane shouts. His Inkay floats in and lashes out at the Genesect with a psychic blast, taking it down. Shane then drops himself into warp space as he prepares to attack.

“Spinda, Dizzy Punch!” a third guard commands. His Pokemon charges at Shane’s Inkay and punches it, knocking her back a bit. The guards then fire off a volley of shots at the Warp Pokemon, further whittling her down.

“#9, your job is done!” H shouts. “Baton Pass!” the cyborg recalls his Floatzel, who passes her strength onto his next Pokemon “#4, it is your time!” He releases his Trevenant, then launches a pester ball at the Spinda. It explodes in a cloud of noxious gas, injuring and poisoning the Pokemon and the guard commanding it.

“Jean, use Electro Ball! Take out that Lumineon!” Morgan commands her Pikachu. The swift electric Pokemon sprints up, leaps into the air, and launches a massive ball of electrical energy at the Neon Pokemon. The ball envelopes the Lumineon, and slams it into a wall. The fried fish falls to the floor, dead.

Alex gasps in shock, but in the heat of the moment she fights to remain focused on the battle. She runs forward and attempts to distract the other guards, but she fails to get the image of the dead Pokemon out of her mind.

“Roman, Blaze Kick!” Dmitri commands his Blaziken. “Take out the Vespiquen!” The Blaze Pokemon charges at the Vespiquen, then leaps into the air, foot raised to strike. A fiery explosion erupts outwards as Roman’s talon makes contact, but the Vespiquen miraculously survives. Dmitri then raises a hand, and directs the flames back at the Vespiquen before the rain puts them out, inflicting a burn upon it. Desperate, the Beehive Pokemon attempts to swipe at Roman, but is unable to land a hit on the Blaziken. Morgan then runs over and unleashes a torrent of flames from her flamethrower and finishes it off.

Without her trainer to command her, Shane’s Inkay targets the Spinda. She floats over to the Spinda and bashes into it, knocking it down to the floor. “Dizzy Punch again!” the Spinda’s trainer commands. The Pokemon picks itself back up and strikes the Inkay again, nearly bringing her down.

“Dozer, use Sunny Day!” Alex shouts to her Venusaur. The Pokemon begins to glow as he starts releasing solar energy. The rain dissipates as a ball of condensed energy rises out from Dozer’s flower.

Shane reappears amidst the guards and strikes one with his marked hand. Startled, the guards all point their rifles at Shane and open fire. Thinking quickly, Shane teleports himself out of harm’s way. “Aha!” one of the guards shouts, spotting Shane’s new location. He fires off a shot, hitting Shane right in the shoulder.

“Jean, take him out!” Morgan shouts, pointing at the guard who shot Shane. “Volt Tackle!” Her Pikachu sprints across the room at lightning speed and slams right into the guard. The man grunts in pain as he collides with the wall. He spits up blood as he stumbles to his feet.

“#4, use Horn Leech! Take down the Spinda!” H commands his Trevenant. The ghostly tree rumbles up to the Spinda and swipes at it with one of his massive boughs, impaling the Pokemon.

Alex tries to push the horrifying image of the bleeding Spinda out of her mind and focus on the fight. The girl runs at the guards, and leaps into the air. She strikes one in the face with her foot, then springs off. Alex slams down on top of the guard just behind with both feet, knocking him to the ground as she flips back into the air. Upon landing back on the floor, she quickly recalls her Venusaur and sends out her Lucario instead. “Anubis, use Power-Up Punch!” the girl commands her newly released Pokemon. As the guard picks himself back up, Anubis charges at him, and punches him squarely in the chest. There is an audible crack as the man’s ribs break. He falls the floor once more, unconscious.

“Roman, High-Jump Kick!” Dmitri commands, directing his Blaziken after one of the others. Roman runs over and jumps up. With a powerful leg, he strikes the man in the head with his talon and snaps his neck.

“C.A.L.I., use Psycho Cut!” Shane shouts to his Inkay. As the guard Morgan’s Pikachu had previously injured stumbles back toward the fight, the Inkay blasts him with psychic energy, breaking his neck. Shane then runs up to the sole remaining guard, glitching out as he prepares a random attack. The station begins rumbling as he unleashes a quake, hitting everything nearby. C.A.L.I. begins to glow as she absorbs the hit. She flips upside down as her form shifts and enlarges into that of a Malamar. Everything else is not so lucky; the man is knocked out cold, and Morgan’s Pikachu and Alex’s Lucario are left badly injured.

“Be more careful!” Alex berates Shane as she runs over to her Pokemon. “You could have really hurt Anubis!”

“I’m sorry,” Shane tells her. “I didn’t know what was going to happen.”

“Well, then don’t do it again!” Alex turns away and pulls a super potion out of her bag. She sprays her Lucario with it, then recalls him. “It’s bad enough you killed those other Pokemon...”

“Let’s just… keep moving,” Morgan suggests to her crewmates.

The crew gathers their wits, then they make their way across the small hangar to the door opposite from where they entered. They step out into a massive chamber spanning almost the entire length of the wing. Rows upon rows of warp drives line the walls. There are hundreds of the machines. While many have various psychic Pokemon inside them, the vast majority just sit there, running, much like the drive in the warp lab back on the _Helix_.

“Now _this_ is a warp lab if I ever did see one,” Shane says, almost in disbelief. This place puts his own lab to shame. “Let’s see what I’s working on…” He walks up to the nearest terminal and begins sifting through the data. As Shane downloads the data to his Pokedex, the others move further into the chamber.

Looking out the nearby viewport, they can see the _Helix_ performing evasive maneuvers as the ship dodges the fire from the station’s cannons. Suddenly, a small band of Genevan ships drop out of warp space and begin assaulting the station. Morgan spots one of the ships glowing in a very familiar way. “Turn the drives off!” she shouts.

The crew scrambles to shut the warp drives down, but there are just too many of them. “This isn’t getting us anywhere!” Shane shouts.

“There must be a way to shut them all down,” Morgan tells him. “Find a map or something.”

Shane jacks back into the terminal and begins searching through the systems. “There’s a power cable embedded in the floor,” he informs the others. “But that won’t do us any good. We can shut off the generator in the central control room. The door on the far end of the room.”

“Let’s go!” Morgan shouts as she begins running across the chamber. A bright purple flash appears from outside as another ship folds in half.

The crew exits the chamber and begins moving through a network of hallways, following Shane’s map to the central control room. After several minutes, I steps out from around a corner, touting a floating object that appears to be some sort of stasis pod. He moves to the middle of the corridor and blocks their path.

“We have _got_ to stop meeting like this,” he says tauntingly. “People will _talk_.”

H steps forward, hoping to negotiate with his fellow cyborg. “I don’t know what you’re doing and I don’t know why you’re working with the conspiracy, but we don’t _have_ to be your enemy.”

“I do recall instructing you to come alone,” I tells him. “I take it this means you’ve declined my offer, then?”

“I’ve taken it to mean that you don’t trust me, and I don’t trust you, but that doesn’t mean we can’t come to trust each other.”

“Look,” Shane cuts in. “Neither of us have attacked each other, _this time_. We could work things out.”

“Everyone here is more than happy to fight you,” H continues. “And I trust them. These are people that have proven time and time again that they get things done. I trust them more than someone I just met, regardless of appearance. If we can prove ourselves to you, and you to us, then we can all achieve our goals together.”

A faint smile appears on I’s face. “Oh, but I have a feeling our goals are…” He looks around at the group of individuals gathered before him. “ _Mutually exclusive_.”

“Then it seems you have not learned to change your goals,” H tells him.

“And why would I… when they’re so _fantastic?_ ”

“Because sometimes they can’t be accomplished without help.”

“Oh, but I _do_ have help. Our mutual friend Mr. Silver has been _very_ generous.” I spins around in a grandiose fashion, holding his arms out. While his back is turned, Shane drops himself into warp space in preparation to attack.

“Resources and knowledge pale in comparison to having people that can get things done.”

“Resources… people… what’s the difference?”

“Resources provide the means to an end goal,” H replies. “Worthy people provide options for an array of end goals. While you are planning for _your_ endgame, we are planning for _all_ of them.”

“Oh, but the two of us are _very_ similar. I know exactly how you treat those you deem… _unworthy_ ,” I says with a sinister smile. “As for those you do respect, they are only weighing you down. In fact, the only _real_ difference between us is that _I_ don’t limit myself!”

“What limit could possibly be greater than the enlightenment of Humanity through the glory of augmentation?”

“How naive. You want to upgrade humanity? I am going to augment the _Universe_.”

As I speaks the final word, his cloaked Rhyperior reappears behind H and moves to strike. H quickly dodges the attack, then releases his Altaria. The cyborg then grabs onto the giant rocky Pokemon. With considerable strength, the cyborg lifts the Rhyperior right off the ground.

Seizing the opportunity, the others send out their own Pokemon. “Lumiera, use Minimize!” Alex shouts. Her ghostly Pokemon shrinks herself down and moves into attack range. The girl then makes a pouty face at the Rhyperior, distracting it and allowing H to get a better grip.

“Yvonne, use Future Sight!” Morgan commands her Espeon. Yvonne hangs back and prepares a future attack while the others move in.

“#7, use Safeguard!” H grunts out. His Altaria flies up above the fight and releases a protective aura around the team.

Dmitri fires a burst of energy off at the Rhyperior and sends it into a confused rage. He then turns to his Vibrava. “Biollante, Dragonbreath!” the Romanov commands, directing the Pokemon after I. The Vibrava flies over I and breathes out a burst of energy, but the attack seems to do little more than piss him off.

A cable running from a cybernetic pack on the cyborg’s back to the back of his head begins to glow, and his eyes soon follow. I lifts his hand and pushes back against the Vibrava with a powerful blast of psychic energy.

Shane drops out of warp space on top of the Rhyperior and strikes it with his marked hand. However, his attack just bounces off the rocky Pokemon’s reinforced hide. Shane jumps down to the floor and releases his Rotom. “B.O.L.T., use Ominous Wind!” he commands the Pokemon. B.O.L.T. flies over to the restrained Rhyperior and summons a blast of air, but the attack fails to connect.

Eyes glowing, I steps toward H and lifts his hand. As the hand rises, so does H. I wrenches H away from his Rhyperior, causing him to drop the Pokemon. “Omega, use Drill Run!” He commands his Pokemon as he charges up electricity. The Rhyperior charges at the floating H, dealing a heavy blow.

H struggles to break from I’s psychic grasp, but is unable to free himself. “Very impressive,” he says as he slowly rotates upside down. “But it will not be enough. By the power of fate, we shall be victorious!” Still hanging upside down, the cyborg loads up his cannon and fires it at I.

Seizing the opportunity, Alex sprints forward and tumbles across the battlefield, bouncing herself up into the air. She then slams down hard on I with her feet. Alex then springs off of the cyborg, lands on her hands, and flips back onto her feet. “Now use Hex, Lumiera!” the girl then commands her Chandelure. The fiery ghost unleashes a blast of energy, landing a powerful hit against the cyborg.

“Yvonne, use Sand-Attack!” Morgan instructs her Espeon. Her Pokemon runs up to I and kicks up a dust cloud into his eyes. However, due to his cybernetic eyes, his vision is not impaired in the slightest. Just then, Yvonne’s predicted attack materializes and strikes I’s Rhyperior, delivering the first significant hit against it.

Not paying Morgan or her Pokemon any mind, I turns to face Alex. He raises a hand and fires off a massive blast of lightning. Thinking quickly, Alex falls back onto her hands as the sparks fly over her. The cyborg does a double-take, but then a slight grin forms on his face. “You know, I _thought_ I recognized you,” he says. “You’re Hawthorne’s daughter, aren’t you?”

“What do _you_ know about him?!” Alex shouts as she points an accusatory finger at I.

“I know a lot, actually,” he answers. “He’s been most helpful in my research on Entropy and Darkrai.”

“ _What are you talking about?!_ ” Alex demands.

“I’m afraid he hasn’t been of as much use as of late, but he’s still around, _somewhere_ … I think,” I tells her mockingly.

“What did you do?!” the girl shouts at him.

“I found him,” the cyborg answers. “I _studied_ him.”

“Enough of this nonsense!” H interrupts. “#7, use Perish Song!” Shane quickly teleports himself away as H’s Altaria lets out a ear-splitting wail that shakes everyone down to the bone, leaving them dazed, ears ringing.

Dmitri follows up by blasting I with dark energy, continuing the onslaught. “Biollante, Bite him!” he then orders his Vibrava. Biollante flies at the cyborg and takes a bite out of the cyborg. I ignores the Vibrava and aims at H’s Altaria. Sparks fly as he unleashes a massive bolt of electricity, but #7’s protective aura softens the blow.

“B.O.L.T., use Confuse Ray!” Shane commands his Rotom. The electric ghost fires a ray of stunning energy at I’s Rhyperior, sending it back into confusion. Meanwhile, Morgan runs up to I and unleashes a rush of flames at him, further whittling him down.

I ignores Morgan, and fires another blast of psychic energy at H, knocking him out of the fight. “Well, that wasn’t so hard,” the cyborg says mockingly.

“Oh, really now?” Shane asks. “You still have _us_ to deal with.”

“Yeah, but… it was _personal_. Omega, deal with them.” His Rhyperior, however, rages around in its confusion and trips over itself.

Seeing an opening, Alex runs at I, and flips forward. Springing off her hands, the girl launches herself at her cybernetic enemy. She clocks him on the head with her foot, then swings herself around onto his back. Alex then pulls out her plasma knife and holds it to the cyborg’s throat. “If you know something you have to tell me!” she screams at him.

I simply reaches up and throws the girl to the floor. His grin returns as he looks down at her. “I’ll tell him you dropped by.”

Alex picks herself up and stares I down with a fierce look in her eyes. “Tell me where he is!” she demands. I just continues to grin at her, to mock her. “Lumiera, use Inferno!” Alex commands her Pokemon as she points her finger at the cyborg. Her Chandelure unleashes a massive surge of flames at I, burning right through his defenses. I immediately surrounds himself with a psychic barrier to block against any further attacks.

“Alright Yvonne, use Future Sight again,” Morgan instructs her Espeon. Once the Pokemon launches her attack into the future, Morgan quickly recalls her and switches to her Charmeleon using the technique she learned from Alex. Meanwhile, H’s Altaria flies over to his trainer's unconscious body and releases a veil of mist.

Dmitri switches out his own Pokemon as well, electing to have his Gengar continue the fight. “Wilhelm, Shadow Ball!” he commands the newly released Pokemon. “Take out that barrier!” The ghost Pokemon builds up a sphere of energy and lobs it at I, putting a giant hole in his barrier. The cyborg fires another blast of psychic energy back at the Gengar through the hole, dealing a nasty hit.

Meanwhile, Morgan falls back from the battle to recover from the Perish Song, while Shane moves in closer. “B.O.L.T., use Ominous Wind on that barrier!” he commands his Rotom. The electrical ghost fires off another burst of ghostly wind, further whittling down I’s defenses.

I fires off a blast of electricity through the giant opening, striking Morgan’s Charmeleon. “Omega, Earthquake,” he then commands his Rhyperior. The cyborg levitates himself off the ground as his Pokemon stomps down and rumbles the station, hitting everything around it. Morgan’s Charmeleon is taken down, and Dmitri is knocked off his feet.

Alex, however, manages to jump at the last second, softening the blow. The girl still grunts in pain as she lands on her feet. “Lumiera, use Inferno!” she commands her Pokemon. The Chandelure blasts I with a torrent of flames, then Alex quickly recalls her. “Your turn, Leviathan!”

I moves in closer to his attackers and discharges a burst of lightning in all directions, hitting Dmitri, Morgan’s just-released Espeon, and Shane’s Rotom. As a being of pure electricity, the Rotom is unaffected and simply absorbs the energy into itself. However, it is not enough to keep it going. B.O.L.T. fires off a last ditch Confuse Ray before succumbing to the Perish Song. Shane quickly recalls the fainted Pokemon and sends out his Delphox.

Continuing his assault, I launches a blast of psychic energy at Leviathan. However, the attack seems to just deflect off the massive Pokemon. Immediately afterwards, another psychic blast materializes and strikes I, just as Morgan’s Espeon foresaw. Annoyed, the cyborg fires a large bolt of lightning at the Pokemon. Just before the bolt finds its mark, Leviathan lets out a mighty roar. The lightning curves as it redirects into the giant Pokemon, charging it up.

Before it too succumbs to the Perish Song, I’s Rhyperior charges at Leviathan and pierces through its hide with its drill. The durable Pokemon glares at the Rhyperior as it collapses before it. “Good job, Leviathan!” Alex shouts in encouragement as she joins Morgan on the edge of the battle to recuperate from the Perish Song.

“Wilhelm, Shadow Ball!” Dmitri commands. His Gengar lobs a ball of ghostly energy at I while his trainer also moves back and walks off the Perish Song.

“Leviathan, Blizzard!” Alex shouts across the battlefield. The giant Pokemon summons a blast of cold air and ice, and directs it toward I.

The cyborg stands firm as he is battered by the ice. “Well, this has certainly been _fun_ ,” he says. “But I’m afraid the time has come for me to depart.” I sprints across the room toward the stasis pod and hops onto it. One of his augmentations flashes, then a nearby airlock opens. The floating pod begins rocketing across the room toward the vacuum of space.

Thinking quickly, Shane teleports to the airlock and attempts to close it. Unfortunately, he is not fast enough. The airlock slides closed just after the pod exits the station. Through the viewport, Shane sees I climb inside the pod. “Minerva, I’s escaping the station in an escape pod!” Shane yells over the comms. “Shoot him down!”

As if to mock him, the pod warps away. “Well, I guess I don’t need to shoot him down then,” comes Minerva’s reply.

* * *

After reviving the unconscious H, the crew figures out their next move. “We should do something about that Rhyperior,” Morgan speaks up. “Otherwise it will just come back again.”

“What are you suggesting?” Shane asks.

“We should just kill it and be done with it,” Morgan answers.

“ _No!_ ” Alex protests.

“We killed Pokemon earlier,” H points out. “What’s one more?”

“It’s _wrong!_ ” Alex cries.

“But if we just leave it here, I is just going to come back for it and we’ll have to fight it again,” Morgan tells her.

“We _can’t_ kill it,” Alex replies. “It’s not its fault. It doesn't know any better… _Please_.”

“Oh, alright,” Morgan concedes. “But we will have to fight it again.”

“Thank you,” Alex tells her.

“I think we'd best keep moving,” Shane tells his crewmates. He then turns to Alex. “I mentioned your father was somewhere on this station.”

“Then we _have_ to find him,” Alex tells him. “We have to.”

“He was looking for the Mirror, right?” Shane asks, more rhetorically than anything. “That means that he probably found Darkrai.”

“But when _we_ found Darkrai, there was no sign of him,” Alex points out.

“That doesn’t mean he wasn’t captured by I,” Dmitri counters.

“This station has an entire wing devoted to Entropy,” Shane says as he pulls up the map on his Pokedex. “Entropy means Darkrai. If your father is here, that’s where he’ll be.”

“Then let’s go!” Alex shouts.

“First, we need to turn the weapons off,” Shane tells her. “The central control room is on the way anyway.”

They make their way through several more corridors until they arrive at their destination. Shane jacks into the computer and begins searching for the controls for the weapons and warp drives. While he does this, Alex anxiously paces back and forth across the room.

While he is unable to completely disable the warp drives, Shane is able to greatly reduce the amount of power being sent to that wing. Satisfied, he exits the computer, but not before downloading data on everything I is working on at the station.

“Hey, Minerva, I’ve reduced the rate of fire on those warp drives at the very least,” Shane says over the comms.

“Well, at least I don’t need to worry about the ship being warped in half,” the pilot responds. “But there are still, you know, _the guns_.”

“Right, well there’s nothing we can do about that now. I’m pretty sure you can handle it.”

“Just… hurry up, will you?”

* * *

With their objective complete in the control room, the crew moves on. They spend several more minutes navigating hallways until they arrive at the door to the Entropy wing. Without hesitation, Alex opens the door and steps inside, with the crew close behind.

Immediately upon entering, they notice all the metal in the room seems rusted and decayed, despite all the technology appearing to be state-of-the-art. “This is weird,” Alex mumbles as they press onward.

They notice many dream machines, maps, notes, and archaeological artifacts and equipment lining the walls. Shane notes that the maps seem to be pointing to the locations of of Mirrored Temples across the Galaxy. To Alex, the equipment seems very familiar; it’s the same equipment she remembers seeing around her home growing up. As they move further in, the girl recognizes the exact machines that belonged to her father. She even spots the exact map that was plastered on the wall of her father’s study.

On the far side of the room, the crew moves through a door into another room, this one lined with observation cells. Alex leads the way, passing by many empty cells, and some with people and Pokemon inside them. As they move further in, they can hear the occasional scream or moan. They all seem to be experiencing various levels of Mirror exposure. Some mutter to themselves, one man bashes his head against the door, and some are just skeletons. The Pokemon seem less affected, but some seem to be starting to show early signs. One cell contains a rabid Glaceon that growls at them as they pass.

“This place is fucked up…” Alex mutters to herself. She tries not to let it get to her and continues moving, checking every cell along the way.

At the far end of the room, Alex finds a cell with a man sitting in the corner, disheveled and hairy. He mutters unintelligibly to himself. Even through the mass of matted hair and the scraggly beard, Alex immediately recognizes her father. She walks up to the cell and places her hands on the glass. “Dad?” she asks, almost in a whisper.

The man shakes, but Alex is unsure if he’s responding to her at all. She bangs her hand on the glass, and her father quickly glances at her. His shaking and muttering intensifies. Alex opens the door and steps inside. “Dad?” she asks again as she slowly approaches.

“Nonononono,” the man mutters louder. “No no no. Not again. _Not again_. Why won’t these visions leave me be?” He averts his eyes as Alex kneels in front of him.

“Dad, it’s me,” Alex says faintly, reaching out to him.

He shrinks back from her. “Don’t look at me! _Don’t look at me with those eyes!_ Haven’t you tortured me enough?!”

“Dad, it’s _me_. It’s _Alex_.” Tears begin to slowly drop from her eyes.

“No, stop it. _Leave me alone!_ ”

Bored with this interaction, H activates the console on the outside of the cell. A video log begins to play, showing that I did little more than observe. He skips through, seeing long stretches of Dr. Hawthorne whimpering and screaming about being haunted by visions of his daughter.

Shane steps into the cell, and places a hand on Alex’s shoulder in an attempt to console her. Dmitri follows close behind, and raises his hand at Hawthorne, attempting to extend his aura. Alex immediately swats the Romanov’s hand away. “What are you doing?!” she shouts at him.

“I’m trying to lift Darkrai’s aura away,” Dmitri explains.

“Will that work?” Alex asks.

“I’m not sure, but it might help.”

“Please, if you think it will help, you _have_ to try it,” Alex begs.

Dmitri lifts his hand once more and tries to push Darkrai’s influence away. Slowly, Hawthorne stops shaking and the muttering subsides. He looks up at Alex with a confused expression on his face. “Dad?” Alex asks again.

“They’re silent…” Hawthorne speak. “But I still _see_ you.”

“I’m here,” Alex tells him. She places her hands on his arms.

“So, it’s really you then…” Her father barely looks her in the eye.

“Y-yes,” Alex stutters. “It’s _me_.”

Hawthorne quickly glances around, looking at everything and everyone, except for Alex. “Am… am I dead?” he asks.

“I’m **pretty sure** you’re not dead,” Shane answers.

Hawthorne looks right at Shane, acknowledging his presence. “So, if I’m not dead, then _she’s_ really here. Oh, God, no...”

Slowly it dawns on Alex that her father’s deepest fear is _her_. Her childhood memories come flooding back: her father never having time for her, burying himself in his work, avoiding her, even. Even now, he seems frightened and avoids making eye contact.

“Why are you afraid?” the girl asks, eyes full of tears. “I came here to save you.”

“ _Leave_ ,” Hawthorne tells her. “Don’t look at me with _those eyes!_ ”

“Why would you want to stay like _this?_ ” Shane asks. “Tortured by your mind for eternity… Why would you want that?”

“Because, at least, I don’t have to face _her_ ,” the man answers, looking down at his feet. “I could never be a father. I couldn’t handle it.”

“But you can try now,” Alex tells him, fighting through the tears.

“No,” Hawthorne says, continuing to avoid eye contact with his daughter. “After all this time, I can’t face _her_.”

“Please,” Alex begs. “I’m _right here_.”

“Stop it!” her father shouts. “ _Stop it!_ After all this time, it’s too late. I can’t face her now...”

“But… I need you,” Alex tells him.

“I know… And that’s why I’m a failure…”

Hawthorne looks down, eyes closed as his daughter hugs him desperately. He cries pained and frightful tears. “It’s okay,” Alex tells him. She let’s go and looks at his face. Slowly, Hawthorne raises his head and, for the first time in Alex’s life, he looks her directly in the eye. With guilt-ridden, anguished look on his face, he tries to find the words, but no sound comes out. “We can try again _now_ ,” Alex pleads.

Hawthorne backs away, slowly shaking his head. Alex sees her plasma knife in his hands. “What are you doing?” Alex asks in dismay.

Her father looks at her, his eyes are fixated on her. “Alex… I’m sorry.” He activates the blade, then jabs it into his throat.

Robert Hawthorne’s body begins to fall to the floor, and Alex’s shrill, anguished scream seems to split the air itself.

“ ** _Nooooooooo!!!_** ”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, that happened. All throughout this campaign, the GM had been talking about how instead of trying to flat out kill characters, he tries to break them, to find that pressure point, and destroy them with it narratively. Almost since I started playing Alex instead of Arlon, he had claimed that he found her pressure point and had the perfect plan to break her. This was the session it had finally happened. I haven’t prepared for RP for a character as much as I prepared for this event. Alex’s life goal of finding her father, of saving him, didn’t turn out how she wanted. She found him but… everything else went wrong. We actually went a little further than what’s here, but this was the perfect chapter end point. The remaining like five or ten minutes of this session will open up the next chapter which will mostly be stuff from the following session. Additionally, Morgan's player had to step out a bit early so she missed most of the stuff after the I battle. That’s why Morgan was not really saying much at the end. But, damn… poor Alex. I knew to expect something bad, but I can’t believe it never occurred to me that he would straight up kill himself like that, let alone with Alex’s own knife
> 
> Of course, there was a bunch of other fun stuff happening here. The fight with the guards was ridiculous. the GM was using a random generator for the fight, and it just happened to throw a Genesect in there, which just worked. Of course, it was way lower level than the ones we fought at the end of Volume 1. He also played loose with the rules here, so shit just died, guards included. Once we got to mop up, he was just like “describe your kill.” I made sure to go non-lethal with mine, because that’s just how Alex rolls. Then there was the I fight. Somehow he went back and got his Rhyperior, but that’s not important. There was some fun RP in there. The exchange between I and H here was a bit different than what happened in-game because the GM wanted to show off the difference between the two of them. What I really liked was the RP in the middle of combat. It was a nice way to break up combat, and set up for Alex’s father making his appearance.


	77. Volume 3, Chapter 11: A Matter of Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Helix crew locates the Eye of Aether.

“ ** _Nooooooooo!!!_** ”

Alex’s scream of pain as she watches her father’s body slump to the ground pierces the eardrums of her crewmates. The girl runs to his side, but she doesn’t know what to do. She pulls the blade out, and blood begins to squirt from the wound. “No no no. Why? _Please_.” She begs and pleads to no avail. There _has_ to be something she can do. _Anything_. Hawthorne tries to speak, but only the sound of air escapes through the hole in his throat as he chokes on his own blood.

Shane rips Alex away as Morgan runs over to try to save her father. “No! _No! **No!**_ ” Alex screams as she struggles against Shane.

Morgan tries to stop the bleeding, but, at this point, she can’t save him. “I’m sorry, Alex. There’s nothing I can do.” The room falls silent, save for the sound of Alex’s sobs.

“Oh, would you _shut up!_ ” H finally shouts at the girl.

“H, cut her some slack!” Shane yells at him. “Her father just _killed himself!_ ”

“Yeah, good riddance,” H snaps back. “It’s a pathetic weakness she’s been dragging around ever since she joined us.” He turns back to face Alex. “ _Snap out of it!_ ”

Shane lets go of Alex, and she slumps against the wall, completely silent; she has no tears left to cry. Shane walks over to H and punches him in the face.

“If you only answer with force, you have no answer at all,” H tells him. “You’re only proving my point. Her father was worthless and him dying is just going to cause more problems unless she just ignores it and-” Before he can finish his sentence, Morgan walks up to the cyborg and slaps him across the face.

“H, imagine if it was Armstrong who died,” Shane tries to reason with him.

“Then I would do what I could to get over it and move forward,” H replies.

“Then help Alex do that instead of just yelling at her,” Shane tells him.

“Then let’s go forward,” H announces. “Standing here doing nothing won’t solve anything.”

“That I can definitely agree with,” Shane responds. He then turns his attention back to Alex. The girl sits slumped against the wall, staring in shock and disbelief at her father’s body. “Alex, we can bring him back to the _Helix_ if you want, and we can have some sort of funeral, but we really need to get moving.”

Alex remains silent and unresponsive. While H picks up Hawthorne’s body, Morgan walks over to the girl and grabs her arm. She pulls Alex up, onto her feet without any resistance. Morgan then turns to the door and leads Alex by the hand after the others.

* * *

Returning once more to the central control room, the crew notices several flashing lights displayed on one of the holoscreens. “Those are new,” Shane observes. He walks up to the screen for a closer look.

The screen displays a map of the Galaxy with a bunch of flashing yellow points of light, as well as static red ones, scattered across it. Shane recalls seeing this map the last time they were in this room, except it didn’t really stand out as none of the lights had been flashing at the time. Slowly, more and more lights change from red to yellow and begin to flash. Then, some begin to flash green instead

“What does it mean?” Dmitri asks, walking up behind Shane.

“Whatever it is, it it can’t be good,” Shane tells him. He starts pressing buttons, and video feeds of various labs appear on the screen, labs designed to produce more Mewtwos. As the lights go green, the Mewtwos begin to awaken, breaking out of their stasis pods, tearing through the walls of the stations that hold them.

“I hope whatever Gilgamesh found can do something pretty special!” H shouts. “It must be in the Time wing. Let’s get moving!”

The crew makes their way through more winding corridors, and they eventually wind up in the Time wing. Moving through the first chamber, they see walls lined with various pieces of machinery and equipment and another door on the far side. They quickly move through the room and into the next, much larger chamber. A giant sphere of rock, metal, and crystal floats in the center, filling most of the space.

“So, this is the Eye of Aether?” H asks as they move further into the chamber. “It’s floating, so it _must_ be special.”

The crew gazes in awe upon the sphere and feel themselves losing track of time. Alex stares at it as images of her dead father continue to flash through her mind. She is painfully aware of its exact dimensions; its diameter varies due to its rough, uneven surface, but it is approximately thirty meters.

Shane walks up to the sphere and touches it with his unmarked hand. Almost immediately, he feels the other one burning. It reminds him of the feeling he experienced when the _Helix_ approached Darkrai. He quickly moves his hand back as he winces in pain.

Morgan let’s go of Alex and runs over to Shane. “What happened?” she asks.

“Remember that time when we were going to the center of the Galaxy and I really couldn’t help you guys?” Shane asks her. Morgan nods. “It’s a very similar feeling,” Shane continues. “Except it hurt _a lot_ more.”

“Are you going to be okay?”

“I think so… as long as I don’t touch it again.”

Morgan turns her attention to the sphere and reaches out for it. As she runs her hand along to bottom, she feels her perception of time going wonky. She gets the sense that it’s reacting to her touch. She places her other hand on the sphere and she sees all of Time stretching out before her.

Focusing her thoughts on I, Morgan’s view of Time narrows to a single point. She sees a Mewtwo augmented with metal plating, glowing with electrical energy, but she is unsure where or _when_. Slowly, other Mewtwos appear behind it as it flies forward. The others follow as it moves toward Giratina, Darkrai, and another entity, which Morgan does not recognize.

As the Mewtwo reaches out for them, Morgan begins to lose focus, and her view shifts once more. She sees the Eye being moved, transported to this station from a different location on a large ship. She tries to stay focused on this vision, hoping for some insight as to how she and her crewmates might move the sphere off the station, but it slips away, and she finds herself sucked into the Bunnelby hole of galactic history.

Morgan sees the cycles of the Galaxy play out before her. Human and Pokemon life is seeded throughout the Galaxy, Human civilization develops, then the Mewtwos come and begin the harvest. Humanity fights against the Mewtwos, but inevitably loses. Over and over the cycle repeats.

Forcing the images away, her vision settles on a single point in space. She doesn’t know why,  but she knows the coordinates are in Genevan space, although she is unsure if Geneva even exists at the time the Eye shows her.

Morgan’s vision zooms in on a single planet, covered with snow and ice. She can see a man encased in the ice, sealed away in a cryotube on this icy world. Then, she sees him standing in the snow, unfrozen. He pensively gazes up at the stars and falling snow. From what Morgan can tell, this man doesn't appear to be of a race currently populating the Galaxy.

Soon, Morgan finds herself pulled back once more into the void of Time. As she falls deeper within, she feels another presence briefly touch her mind. Morgan realizes that the Eye contains an entity similar to Giratina, and now it is aware of her. Slowly, she can feel understanding filling her. Time, she realizes, is a stable force; the past and present are set, but the future is not, even though it remains stable. Certain events are set to happen, but their contexts and outcomes are undetermined. These events can put pressure on Time, and manifest themselves as visions.

Morgan take solace in fact that nothing is predetermined. Even if certain events are bound to happen, there are things that she and her crewmates can do to ensure better outcomes. This knowledge fills her with hope.

As she lets go of the Eye and steps back, Morgan has one final vision. She sees the station, the Eye floating in its chamber. A Mewtwo slowly floats up to the sphere and touches it. Then, the vision fades, and she finds herself standing before the Eye once more.

“-not normal,” she can hear Shane’s voice fade in.

“What?” Morgan asks him. “What’s not normal?”

“Uh, your eye,” he replies.

“What about it?”

“When we get back to the _Helix_ , look in a mirror.” Morgan’s non-cybernetic eye now glows a bright silver.

“Okay…?”

“Enough standing around!” H suddenly shouts. He releases his Rhydon as he runs up to the sphere. “Let’s move this thing, #1!” As he makes contact with the object, H sees other humans using it to transmute materials and wonders if he could combine it with a particle collider to do the same.

“H, you won’t be able to move it like that,” Morgan tells him, snapping him back to the present moment. “And we don’t even have room for it on the ship.”

“But this thing is too important to leave here,” He counters.

“I know, but we have to. When I touched it, I saw one of those Mewtwos touch it. I think one is coming for it now.”

“All the more reason for us to take it!” H argues.

“But, if we bring it with us, the Mewtwo will probably just follow us,” Dmitri warns.

“We _could_ just come back for it later,” Shane suggests.

“It might not be here later,” H points out.

“I only saw it touch the Eye though,” Morgan tells him.

While the others debate what to do, Alex slowly walks up to the sphere. The scene of her father’s suicide continues to replay through her mind over and over. _It’s all my fault_ , she thinks. _There must be a way this thing can fix this_. Alex brushes her fingers across the object, and feels herself swallowed by Time. She sees her life unfold before her eyes: all the memories of her father, every moment of him avoiding her, every hard time, every attempt she made to end her own life. The last thing she sees is herself lying in a pool of her own blood, just before Morgan pulls her away.

“Alex, what did you see?” Morgan asks her.

Alex just silently stares back into her eyes.

“C’mon, we’re leaving.” Morgan grabs the girl’s arm and pulls her along after the others who had already begun to leave.

The crew makes their way to the nearest hangar, then contact Minerva. The pilot brings the ship in a short while later and picks them up.

* * *

Back on the ship, everyone scatters. Morgan brings Hawthorne’s body to the medbay for preservation, while H, Shane, and Dmitri go off to their respective labs. Alex wanders around the ship’s corridors in a daze, eventually winding up at her room.

The girl sits down on her bed and stares down at her bloody hands. The image of her father lying there, bleeding out, burns in her brain. She can still see the look of fear in his eyes when he saw her. _It’s all my fault…_

Eventually, she stands up and clenches her fists. She knows what she needs to do. Alex pulls out her plasma knife and looks at it for a moment. She can see her father jabbing it into his throat. _Now it’s my turn_ , she thinks. She activates the blade, then holds it up to her own neck.

“Alex, _no!_ ” Naomi screams from the doorway. She runs into the room, and grabs Alex’s arm as the girl moves to slit her throat. With all her might, she pulls Alex’s hand away. “What are you doing?!”

“Let go of me!” Alex shouts back at her. “I have to do this!” She struggles to pull her arm free, but Naomi’s grasp remains firm.

“But _why?!_ ” Naomi cries. “You can’t…”

“My entire life has been a lie!” Alex screams as the tears begin to pour. “Everything I’ve worked for has been for _nothing!_ I have nothing left to live for!”

Naomi presses Alex’s arms against her sides in attempt to keep her from hurting herself. “That’s _not_ true,” she tells her as her own eyes well with tears. “You have me… _Please_ … Put the knife away…”

“B- but I can’t go on anymore… Not after…”

“You can’t die… Because I have no one else… Because _I love you_ …” Naomi wraps her arms around Alex and hugs her tightly. “Please… I need you…”

A rush of emotion flows through Alex as she hears the words. In seventeen years of life, not once had anyone told her that they loved her. She never really had anyone to love her. In this moment, Alex realizes that she can’t do to Naomi what her father did to her.

_I will **not** be like him._

The plasma knife falls from Alex’s hand and clatters loudly against the floor. She hugs Naomi as she breaks down into sobs. Naomi leads Alex over to the bed and sits her down. She sits beside her and holds her tightly against herself.

“How could he do this to me?” Alex asks between sobs “Why couldn’t he just…? It’s not fair…”

“It’ll be okay… I’m here for you,” Naomi tells her. She comfortingly rubs her hand back and forth across Alex’s back. “I will _always_ be here for you.”

* * *

Shane sits in his lab, staring into the Warp, trying to learn from it. Suddenly, it occurs to him that he should probably check on Alex. He heads up to the upper deck and pokes his head into her room. He sees Naomi is already there, comforting Alex as best she can, and decides to leave them be.

As he turns to leave, Shane spots H striding down the corridor toward Alex’s room. “H, please leave them alone,” he tells the cyborg, stopping him outside the door. “They’re having a moment.”

“Alright, they have a moment,” H replies. He stands there silently for a brief moment. “Alright, the moment’s over.” He moves to enter the room, but Shane grabs onto him and teleports both of them to the furthest part of the ship.

Slightly annoyed, H immediately dashes off, back to Alex’s room. “We need to talk,” he declares as he steps into the room. He turns to the door console and locks it. Completely ignoring Naomi’s presence, he locks eyes with Alex. “I’m fed up. I’m done. I don’t get you. I don’t get how you operate. I don’t get how you think. You _don’t_ make sense, and it bothers me, _greatly_. If we’re going to do anything, especially saving the Universe, I _have_ to work with you for some stupid reason. I’m willing to try to figure out however you function so that we can work together without constantly trying to impede each other’s progress. So, what can I do to help so that we can stop trying to kill each other?”

“Just… _go away_ ,” Alex tells him, still very clearly distraught. However, that fact is lost on H.

“No,” H replies firmly. “We’re going to stay here until we resolve our differences.”

“Hey, just leave her alone,” Naomi tells H, standing up in front of Alex. “Her father just _died_.” She moves to step forward, but Alex grabs her arm and pulls her back.

“No… He’s right,” Alex tells her. She stands up and walks up to H. “Okay,” she says, new determination in her eyes.

“Well, that’s a start,” H responds. “That still doesn’t solve anything, though. We’re not trying to murder each other, but I don’t get your goals. I don’t get your motives. What are you trying to accomplish by throwing away all of the possibilities of advancement that you have and doing things in suboptimal ways for little gain or benefit to yourself or those around you? Why are you so concerned with random innocent life? Why are you concerned with the lives of your tools? Why not change? Why not improve? Why not do things more efficiently, more effectively, to get things done _better_ with less pain and with less problems? Why worry about the ethics and morals?”

“Because I _actually_ care about other people,” Alex tells him.

“ _Wonderful_ ,” H says dryly. “Even if they don’t care about you?”

“It doesn’t matter,” Alex tells the cyborg. “I think life is worth saving, and there are people that _I_ care about.” She glances back at Naomi for a brief moment. “I want to save them.”

“Would you go to any lengths to save them?” H asks.

“I would do everything in my power to save them,” Alex replies.

“Hmm… Well, we have our differences, we have our disagreements, but that’s a good thing. You think in ways that I don’t, and I think in ways that you don’t… so, if you start listening to me, I’ll start listening to you.” H extends his hand. “Do we have a deal?”

“Yes,” Alex responds decisively. She reaches out and shakes the cyborg’s hand.

“Wonderful.” H turns to leave and walks right into the door. He quickly stands up, brushes himself off, unlocks the door, and leaves.

Shane quickly pokes his head in and looks around. “Everything okay in here?” he asks.

“I think so,” Alex answers. “I’ll be fine now.”

* * *

Shortly after the departure of the _UAS Helix_ , several ships drop out of warp space around I’s base to reinforce the station, chasing away the attacking Genevan ships. They dock with the station, and armed men board and spread out across the various wings.

Several hours pass as the guards disperse across the station, securing all the equipment and artifacts within. Suddenly, an alarm blares as a being drops out of warp space. It slowly approaches the station, and peels the wall of the Time wing away. Once inside, it seals the breech, and gently floats up to the guards surrounding the Eye of Aether.

“Halt!” one of the guards shouts as they all raise their weapons.

The being raises a hand, lifting the guards off their feet and pulling their weapons out of their hands. “ **Poor Humans** ,” it speaks in a soft, but equally terrifying voice as it floats ever nearer. “ **So full of suffering. Do not worry Humans, I will show you mercy.** ” It clenches its fist, and the guards’ necks all snap. The creature releases its grasp, and the lifeless bodies slump to the ground.

The being floats up to the Eye and touches it with an outstretched hand. Interfacing with the sphere, the creature is slowly filled with the ancestral knowledge of the Mewtwos.

“ **Yes. We see now.** ”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After last chapter’s cliffhanger, at last we can see the results! We had to wait two weeks to see the results and then it took me a long time to finally write the chapter because I was so busy at the time. To start off, we have the last like ten or fifteen minutes of the previous session, which I made the creative decision to move to this chapter as the moment selected to end the last chapter was so perfect. We did a brief recap for the sake of Morgan's player, who had to step out early for the previous session, so I ended up sort of blending those together with the transition to the next bit of the session. Once again it was a great opportunity to show the difference between H and everyone else. He was incredibly harsh on Alex, and got himself punched and slapped.
> 
> Then it was on to the Eye of Aether! The artifact we all expected to have acquired quite a while before this but somehow didn’t! Here it just sort of gave Morgan some clues as to where to go next, as well as provide her with a brand similar to those of Shane and Dmitri. It really didn’t end up being as immediately useful as we would have hoped. We were really expecting a Deus Ex Machina, but it felt like just a thing. Ultimately we left it behind, because it seemed a Mewtwo was after it, and we couldn’t fit it on our ship.
> 
> The following scene was actually something I wrote ahead of time. I had actually been fully prepared to RP that moment with Alex and Naomi for the previous session, but due to time and the way things played out it had to be pushed. So I just synthesized it into lines to read during the session. Special thanks to Morgan's player for reading them with me! The GM gave her some bonus EXP for volunteering. This is a moment I knew I wanted to be perfect, one to fully capture Alex’s character shift. Alex’s one goal in life has been torn away from her, the dream she’s been chasing has crumbled away. In her mind, she has no reason to live for herself anymore, but Naomi has shown her other reasons to live. Alex is no longer living for herself, but instead she is now living for others. Gone is the somewhat selfish child you’ve grown to know. In her place we have a different Alex whom I hope you will enjoy seeing grow and mature over the final few chapters of Spacemon.
> 
> And then H came in and disrupted the moment! His player was actually ready to just interrupt the scene, but since it was an important moment for Alex’s character development, the GM made him hold off until after we finished reading the lines. I was actually prepared for a similar moment for this session where Alex would go to H, understanding their need to work together if she wants to protect the people she cares about, but he ended up coming to her instead. It turned out nicely in the end.
> 
> Finally, we have our little post-session scene. Morgan’s vision as she let go of the Eye has come to pass! Although the GM had this scene happen at the end of the session, I felt it seemed more fitting to stick it here at the end of this chapter.


	78. Seeing Red, Part 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In the final part of Seeing Red, the Red Suns take on their most dangerous mission yet

The warning sirens blared as Arlon and Morgan ran through the large corridors of the Federation dreadnought. Crewmen and emergency response teams darted about, moving to their stations as the two passed. Once they reached the hangar, they parted ways.

“See you on the other side!” Arlon shouted to his former crewmate. Morgan nodded and ran for the _Helix_ while Arlon continued onward toward the _Corsair_.

The Red Suns' leader bashed his fist against the ramp controls as he boarded his ship. “Matt, get us the hell out of here!” he ordered his pilot as he ran onto the bridge.

The entire dreadnought rumbled.

“Way ahead of you, boss,” Matt responded as he fiddled with the controls, already prepping for takeoff. The ship lifted off the ground, and the pilot steered it toward the open hangar door. He cranked up the engines and followed the _Helix_ out.

As the two ships emerged from the hangar, Arlon spotted a streak of light pierce through the dreadnought, right through the ship’s fusion core. The _Corsair_ rumbled violently as the massive ship behind erupted into a gigantic explosion. Flames licked the back of the smaller frigate as it struggled to outrun the blast.

“It’s gonna be a close one!” Matt shouted. Following the _Helix_ ’s lead, the pilot cranked the engines to maximum and rocketed the _Corsair_ away before it was engulfed by the fireball.

As the abomination emerged from the conflagration completely unharmed, the remaining ships in the fleet began to open fire on each other, bent to its will. “What the hell are they doing?!” Luke shouted in disbelief.

“You saw the recordings,” Arlon told him. “Bloody mind control! Matt, get us out of here!”

“Working on it!” Matt shouted back. Just then a cruiser tumbled by, tossed aside like a discarded toy by the creature. Matt pulled the _Corsair_ up, drastically changing heading to avoid collision. The frigate rumbled once more as the out-of-control cruiser smashed into a destroyer and both ships detonated.

As the _Corsair_ rapidly moved away from the battle. Arlon caught a glimpse the _Helix_ dropping into warp space. “They’ve got the right idea!” the Red Suns’ leader shouted. “Set a course for the warp gate and jump out of this mess!”

“Just a moment…” Matt responded as he weaved the _Corsair_ between another pair of spiraling ships. Once the vessel broke free of the battle, the pilot fired up the warp drive and the _Corsair_ catapulted into warp space.

* * *

“ _Goddamn it!_ That bloody _thing_ is still out there and you’re doing _nothing?!_ ” Arlon screamed at the viewscreen.

“Need I remind you that we are fighting a _war_ here?” Admiral Graves asked coldly.

“The bloody Romanovs don’t mean _shit_ anymore!” Arlon yelled back at her. “Mr. Silver’s little monster wants to kill _all_ humans. Federation, Romanov, Genevan, it doesn’t give one bloody _fuck_. You’ve seen the video, you _know_ this thing should be your top priority. We _need_ your help.”

“The last time you asked for help, I sent you a fleet,” Graves replied. “Where is it now?”

“That thing ripped it to _pieces!_ It tossed your ships aside like _toys!_ You, of all people, should understand how dangerous it is. There’s only more on the way.”

“Until you can provide more concrete evidence that there are more of these… _things_ , as you call them, I’m afraid I cannot help you. Our resources are spread too thin against the Romanovs to go on some wild Farfetch’d chase. Farewell.” The screen went dark as Graves disconnected.

“ _Arrrgh!_ ” Arlon shouted in frustration, slamming his fist on the console.

It had been a few days since Mr. Silver’s monster had destroyed the Federation fleet in Sector 7. Now safely back at the Red Suns’ base on Harmonia, Arlon had contacted Admiral Graves hoping to get the Federation to go after that thing, but with no other survivors to support his claims, the mercenary was unable to convince her of the severity of the situation.

“Things not going so well?” Rena’s voice sounded behind the Red Suns’ leader. He turned to see her standing in the doorway.

“I still can’t reach the _Helix_ and the bloody Federation won’t help us,” Arlon explained. “We’re on our own on this one. I don’t know what we’re gonna do about that damn creature. You saw what it did to that fleet.”

“I don’t think yelling at our allies is going to solve anything,” she replied.

“You’re right, but… It’s just _so_ frustrating. They’re refusing to acknowledge that this… _thing_ is a problem.”

“Well, zen forget zem.” Rena placed her hand reassuringly on Arlon’s. “We dealt with Mr. Silver, and we will deal with zis thing too. Like we always do.”

“Right. First, we need to know what we’re dealing with. Go find Matthias and tell him to pour over every damn file we got from Mr. Silver. We need every edge over that creature we can get, and there _has_ to be something we can use hidden in there. I’ll call the fleet so we can- what the hell?” Arlon cut himself off as a flashing red light appeared on the console. The Red Suns’ leader walked over to investigate.

“What is it?” Rena asked.

“It’s a distress call,” Arlon answered. “From the _Helix_.”

“Zey must be in trouble. Where are zey?”

“ _Here_. In orbit around Harmonia. Let’s see if we can’t lend a hand.”

* * *

“Alright, listen up,” Arlon said to his compatriots gathered around the holotable in the _Corsair_ ’s war room. “Our true enemy has been revealed. If you thought Mr. Silver was bad…” Arlon trailed off as he pressed a button on the table. A video of the abomination in action began to play. “ _Think again_. By now, most of you have seen this… _thing_ in action, but this is only the beginning. This monster is but the first of many.”

“There’s more of them?” Carmen asked incredulously.

“A lot more,” Arlon answered. “Mr. Silver’s objective is to create a bloody army of them. Matthias has decrypted every single file we stole from that bastard.” He glanced over at the hacker as he spoke. “That lab we discovered… there’s a whole bunch more.” Arlon pressed another button and the hologram shifted to display a map of the Galaxy with dozens of marked sets of coordinates. “These are all locations where they’re creating more of these things… ‘Project Mewtwo,’ they call it. Our data is incomplete, so there may be even more of these facilities.”

“Well, then what are we waiting for?” Kiril asked. “Let’s blow them up.”

“That’s the idea, mate. We need take these labs out before they make any more of these so-called Mewtwos.” Arlon folded his arms and looked around the room again. “The problem is, we still don’t know how many other labs there are… ones we don’t know about.”

“Couldn’t we just find out where the others are by boarding one of these ones?” Luke asked, pointing to the map.

“Judging from the data, the entire project is compartmentalized,” Matthias answered. “It looked to me like each lab didn’t even know the others _existed_.”

“The only way to know for sure would be to attack Mr. Silver with the cyber-weapon again, but the odds of success are so low it would be suicide,” Arlon continued. “Taking out the labs is still the best course of action. We won’t wipe out all the Mewtwos before they’re created, but, at the very least, we’ll slow Mr. Silver’s progress and we won’t have to fight so many at once. Between us, the fleet, and the _Helix_ , we should be able to take care of this swiftly.”

“You ‘ave told ze _‘elix_ about this plan, zen?” Rena asked.

“They seemed to have enough on their plate,” Arlon answered. “As soon as they get back from their little shopping trip, I’ll fill them in. The next step is to contact the fleet and-”

Suddenly the entire ship rumbled.

“What the bloody hell was that?!” Arlon shouted.

“Boss, you’re gonna wanna see this,” one of the bridge crewman announced over the comms.

Arlon hit a button on the holotable and activated the comms. “Patch it through to the war room,” he instructed.

“You got it, boss.” A few moments later, an all too familiar image sprang into view.

“You have got to be kidding me,” Arlon said in disbelief. He quickly activated the comms again, this time contacting the _Helix_ crew. “Do you guys read me?”

“We hear you,” Dmitri’s voice answered.

“So, we’ve got a problem… That _thing_ is back.” Arlon’s eyes locked with those of the holographic display of the abomination… the Mewtwo. For a brief moment, it seemed to stare back at him.

Then it spoke, its voice echoing through not just Arlon’s mind, but that of everyone on Harmonia. “ **Humans: pathetic vermin beneath my gaze. You know only anger and a lust for power which you can never have. You are unworthy of existence. Now, bear witness as I tear this world, the first of many, apart.** ”

The entire planet rumbled again, snapping The Red Suns' leader back to reality. He activated the comms once more, broadcasting on all channels. “Everyone, back to base,  ** _NOW!_** We are _leaving!_ ”

* * *

Arlon looked out the front viewport on the _Corsair_ ’s bridge at his fully amassed fleet. It had been four days since they had escaped the destruction of Harmonia, and now it was time to put the plan into action. The _Helix_ had already departed to pursue Mr. Silver’s agent known as I and collect a powerful artifact known as the Eye of Aether, one that could possibly help them destroy the Mewtwo running around the Galaxy. In the meantime, it was up to the Red Suns to deal with the remaining Mewtwo labs before they had more of the monsters on their hands.

“You sure you don’t want to come with us, mate?” The Red Suns’ leader asked as he turned back to face Hondo. “I could certainly use an extra ship.”

“I signed on to collect an ancient artifact of untold value,” the smuggler captain answered. “Not to hunt down these Mewtwo things. I’ve seen the news reports, my friend. I don’t want to be anywhere near that thing.”

“Suit yourself, mate. But, there _is_ something else you can do for me.”

“Oh?”

“Would you mind taking Mr. Pierce over there off my hands?” Arlon asked, glancing over at the ASI Consolidated CEO the _Helix_ crew had dumped on him. “The only reason the bastard even made it off Harmonia was because his daughter’s girlfriend is a member of the _Helix’_ s crew.”

“What do you want _me_ to do with him?” Hondo asked.

“I doesn’t matter to me, mate,” Arlon answered “Dump him on a random planet for all I care. I just want him out of the way while I’m trying to save the bloody Galaxy. He’s one of the richest men in the Galaxy, I’m sure you’ll think of something!”

“Fair enough,” the smuggler responded. “Good luck on your… _hunting trip_.”

Arlon watched as Hondo departed, taking Jonathan Pierce along with him. He could hear the businessman complaining about something as they walked off the bridge. “Well, that’s one bloody problem taken care of,” the Red Suns’ leader mumbled to himself. “That just leaves-”

“Arlon, you’ve got to see this,” Petra’s voice sounded over the comms.

“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” Arlon grunted. He walked over to the captain’s chair and activated the comms. “What now?”

“Just get to the war room _now_.”

* * *

“Dozens of worlds have fallen to these unknown Pokemon of incredible power.”

A flame-shrouded Mewtwo reduces moons to molten blobs, and lobs them at the planet they once orbited.

“Some are calling this the end of days.”

Another forms a black hole, which swallows an entire planet in mere moments.

“Harmonia, it seems, was only the first…”

The original one tears another world in half.

Arlon flips through dozens of news channels on the holotable. The anchors comment in disbelief and wildly speculate as images of the Mewtwos flash by. Frustrated, the Red Suns' leader deactivates the table.

“So much for destroying the labs,” Luke commented.

“What are we supposed to do now?” Carmen asked. “One is bad enough, but this is just…” She trails off, unable to find the words.

“We ‘ave to do something,” Rena answered.

“But _what?_ ” Petra asked her. “Going up against just one of these things would be _suicide_.”

“It wouldn’t be a _one-hundred_ percent chance of death,” Matthias countered.

“It’s close enough,” Luke responded.

“But that’s a risk we’re going to have to take,” Arlon final spoke. “We _can’t_ just sit here talking while those monsters slaughter countless innocents. We pick one, and hit it with _everything_ we’ve got.”

The Red Suns’ leader reached for the holotable once more. This time, he used to to call Admiral Graves. Arlon was surprised when he was put through almost immediately.

“Hello,” Graves greeted him as her face appeared on the projected screen, showing the same stern look as ever. “I suspected I would be hearing from you.”

“I guess you know why I’m calling, then?”

“I’m afraid so,” the admiral answered. “You were right to be concerned about these… creatures. I should have listened.”

“It’s too late to dwell in the past now,” Arlon responded. “We are prepared to help in whatever way we can. I need to know where the nearest one is to our coordinates. Sending them now.”

“The assistance is appreciated,” Graves told the Red Suns’ leader as she looked over her reports. “One of our fleets is being decimated in Sector 3. Here are the coordinates. It’s close to your location. This is a key position we cannot afford to lose.”

“You can count on us, Admiral.”

“Good luck.”

Not a moment after the Admiral ended the call did Arlon open up a fleet-wide channel. “The time has come for action!” He declared. “Today, we stand against the greatest threat the Galaxy has ever known! Many of us will not survive, but it is up to us to do all we can to ensure we have a future! I’m transmitting the coordinates now; prepare to jump!”

* * *

Tension hung heavy in the air aboard the _Corsair_ as it flew through warp space toward Federation space, toward a foe of unimaginable power. Arlon sat in the captain’s chair, gazing out at the swirling purples and blues and contemplating what lied ahead. The future of the Galaxy now seemed uncertain. The Red Suns’ leader hoped that whatever the _Helix_ crew found at I’s base would help them defeat these monsters. He knew there was no way they could take them all down by force with their current resources.

Suddenly, Arlon felt a hand on his shoulder. He shook his thoughts away and looked up to see Rena standing in front of him. “Are you alright?” she asked.

“Yeah,” Arlon answered. “I’m just thinking about the mission. Did you need something?”

“I ‘ave to tell you something,” Rena told him. The mercenary noted a strange look in her eyes. She reached out and pulled him up, then brought him away from the rest of the crew.

“Is something wrong?” Arlon asked.

“No,” she answered. “It’s just zat…”

“What is it?” the Red Suns’ leader asked. He brushed his hand across Rena’s cheek.

“I meant to tell you back on ‘armonia, but zen zat Mewtwo showed up, and we ‘aven’t had a moment to relax since.” She reached up and grabbed Arlon’s hand, then moved it down to her stomach. “I’m pregnant.”

“What?” Arlon asked, shocked. “This is _incredible_.” He placed his other hand on Rena’s stomach. “But… I can’t ask you to come with me on this mission. We’ll drop out of warp space immediately, so you can be safe.”

“No,” Rena said firmly. “We _‘ave_ to do everything we can to ensure zat our baby ‘as a future. I _‘ave_ to stay. You _know_ zat. You would do ze same in my position.”

“You’re right,” Arlon told her as he pulled her in close. “We’ll face these monsters _together_. Then, we can rest easy knowing that we made sure that our child has safe Galaxy to grow up in.”

* * *

Explosions and debris flew past the Red Suns’ fleet as the ships dropped out of warp space. Matt weaved the _Corsair_ between the wrecked carcasses of Federation ships as a single Mewtwo ravaged the remaining fleet, one ship at a time.

“All ships, focus fire on that thing!” Arlon commanded the fleet. “It’s small and maneuverable, so don’t let it slip through!”

As the rag-tag band of ships opened fire on the Mewtwo, it turned to face them. A fierce and powerful voice boomed inside the heads of the Red Suns. “ **More Humans. I will vanquish you like the others.** ” Fist raised, the abomination flew toward the incoming ships. It pierced right through the hull of a frigate, and emerged on the other side. The ship exploded in a massive fireball.

“Hold the line!” Arlon commanded his fleet. “Matthias, patch me into the Federation fleet’s comms!” he added over the _Corsair_ ’s comms.

“You got it, boss!” the hacker responded. “Annnd, _now!_ ” Immediately the Federation comm chatter began playing.

“This is the _UAS Corsair_ of the Red Suns!” Arlon announced. “We’re here to help!”

“How did you access our comms?!” an officer demanded.

“That’s not important, mate!” Arlon shouted back. “Admiral Graves sent us. We have experience dealing with these things. Rally to our position and focus fire on the creature!”

“ **Your numbers are meaningless** ,” the Mewtwo’s voice sounded once more. “ **All shall fall.** ”

“Not if I have anything to say about it!” Arlon shouted over the comms to no one in particular. “Fire!”

Lasers deflected off the Mewtwo’s barriers as it flew in for another kill. It blasted through the side of a Federation destroyer like paper. Arlon watched explosions ripple across the ship’s hull as it moved through the ship.

“That ship’s good as dead! Blow it up while it’s still inside!” Arlon commanded over the comms.

“That’s murder!” one of the Federation commanders responded.

“They’re going to die anyway!” Arlon shot back. “Make their deaths mean something!”

As the Red Suns’ ships began to open fire on the Destroyer, many Federation ships began to follow their lead. Under such sustained fire, the ship exploded with the Mewtwo still aboard. A streak of light shot upward from the blast.

“ **How quickly you turn upon one another. Your kind must be purged.** ”

It still spoke with confidence, but Arlon could see its barriers falter ever so slightly. “Keep it up!” Arlon shouted over the comms. “Don’t give it any breathing room!”

The creature continued to weave between the waves of laser fire, smashing through ships as it went. For every chink the fleets put in its barrier, the Mewtwo seemed to destroy several more ships.

“This thing just won’t die!” one of Arlon’s pilots shouted.

“Just keep pushing!” Arlon shouted back.

The Mewtwo charged at the _Corsair_ , moving to smash through the hull. “ _No you don’t!_ ” Matt screamed as he rolled the ship out of the way at the last second.

The abomination rocketed past, tearing right through another of the Red Suns’ frigates. As it flew away from the blast, it hefted up a Federation cruiser with its mind, and used it like a club to smash through several more. Countless anguished screams sounded over the comms.

“ **I do what is necessary. None shall be spared.** ”

“This is _hopeless!_ ” another pilot yelled.

“Don’t listen to it!” Petra shouted back at him. Arlon watched her weaving through debris in the _Draken_ , landing a few hits on the Mewtwo’s barriers as she drew near.

“Petra’s right!” Arlon broadcast to the fleet. “Push it out! Don’t let it get to you! Hit it with all you’ve got!”

The remaining ships unleashed a massive salvo of fire at the Mewtwo, battering its barriers to oblivion. As the barriers shattered, they exploded outward from the monster. A giant shockwave of psychic energy radiated outward in all directions, destroying several more ships and damaging many more. The _Corsair_ rumbled violently as it passed through.

As Matt wrestled to keep the ship steady he suddenly felt control completely torn away. “ _It fucking grabbed us!_ ” the pilot cried in frustration. The ship rapidly accelerated as the Mewtwo tossed it at a Federation cruiser. Matt furiously battled the controls, attempted to do everything possible to regain any kind of control. “C’mon you hunk of junk…” he said tensely as the ship began to slow. The whole vessel lurched violently as it made contact, but, thanks to a last minute adjustment, it managed to avoid total annihilation.

“Nice flying, kid!” Arlon complimented the pilot as the warning lights start flashing.

“Thanks, but we’re not gonna make it much longer! the stabilizers are out and the nav system is completely shot!”

Arlon looked outside and he could see the Mewtwo beginning to waver. It was still decimating the fleet, but he could tell the sustained fire was slowing chewing through it now that its barriers were down.

Suddenly, a warning siren began to sound. “Reactor’s been damaged!” one of the bridge crew shouted. “It’s going critical!”

“Shit,” Arlon swore under his breath. He then activated to comms. “We’re abandoning ship!” he announced. “Everyone head for the escape pods! We’ll head for the _Pročnost’_. It’s our best shot! But we’re gonna leave a little present for it.”

“Whatcha you thinking, boss?” Luke asked.

“We’re going to overload the warp drive,” Arlon answered. “Combined with the reactor, it should blow that Goddamn thing to hell! Rena, prepare the drive, then head for the escape pods.” He then activated fleet-wide comms. “All ships, prepare to retreat!”

“I’m on it,” the Parisian responded before rushing off.

“Everyone, get moving!” Arlon commanded the others. The bridge began to empty, but Arlon noticed Matt remained seated. “That means you too,” Arlon told him.

“You know someone’s gonna have to fly this ship into that thing, right?” Matt asked, looking over at his boss. “Leaving it here is too risky, and the autopilot's dead.”

“I can’t ask you to do that, mate,” Arlon told him. “We’re getting out of here.”

“If you say so, boss.” The pilot stepped back from the controls and began moving toward the door. “You know, I’m gonna miss flying this ship,” he said as he took one last look.

“She served us well, mate,” Arlon responded. “Now, let’s move!”

The two moved to the escape pods where the crew had nearly  finished loading up. Arlon waited outside for Rena to return. Soon enough, she emerged from around the corner. “Ze drive ‘as been set,” she informed the Red Suns’  leader.

“Great work, now get on board.”

As Rena stepped into the pod, Arlon pulled off his weapon and Pokeball belt and pushed it into her hands. “What’re you giving me zis for?” she asked him.

“Take good care of them for me,” Arlon told her, a somber note in his voice.

“What are you saying?”

“Someone needs to deliver the final blow,” the mercenary answered. “The nav system’s fried.”

“ _No!_ ” Rena pleaded. “You can’t!”

“I’m sorry…” Arlon shoved her into the pod, then slammed his fist against the control. He could hear her scream for him through the door before the pod launched.

Slowly, he returned to the bridge and settled himself into the pilot’s seat. Once he saw the escape pods safely reach the Pročnost’s hangar, Arlon began flying toward the Mewtwo. The warning sirens continued to blare as the countdown on the reactor ticked away.

“Arlon, what the hell are you doing?!” Petra shouted at him over the comms.

“What I must,” he answered. “It’s been an honor serving with you all. Rena… I love you… Make sure that our child has a future.”

He could hear her scream for him over the comms, but the sound cut out as the fleet jumped away.

“ **Flee, Humans** ,” the Mewtwo’s voice sounded in the mercenary’s head. “ **Your time will come soon enough.** ”

“That’s what _you_ think,” Arlon said aloud as he flew the _Corsair_ directly at the monster. He could see its body regenerating itself. His eyes narrowed as the Mewtwo turned to face the ship, and he could feel it touch his mind. “You think we’re unworthy, huh?! I’ll show you! Humanity is more worthy than you’ll ever be!”

“ **Your kind proved otherwise long ago.** ”

“Yeah? Well, we’ll see about that.”

The Mewtwo raised a hand to destroy the rapidly approaching ship, but then the entire region of space was swallowed by a giant light as the warp drive went critical. And then…   _nothingness_.

* * *

Sorrow filled the air aboard the _RSS Pročnost’_. The Red Suns stood around in shock and disbelief, mourning the loss of their leader.

“I can’t believe ‘es gone,” Rena cried.

“We’ll make sure his sacrifice meant something,” Luke told her, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. “We _have_ to.”

“Luke’s right,” Petra agreed. “We can’t let everything that we… that _Arlon_ built go to waste. It’s up to us now to lead the Red Suns.”

“We will make Mewtwos pay for what they’ve done,” Kiril chimed in.

“So, then what’s our next move?” Luke asked.

Rena wiped the tears from her eyes, a determined expression on her face. “Now, we contact the _‘elix_ ,” she told her compatriots. “By now, they ‘ave surely collected the Eye. Zen we use it to destroy every last one of those monsters.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That’s right! I killed my own character! Deal with it!
> 
> When I started this series, I had no idea how it would end. Shortly before I started working on Part 6, I decided that I was going to kill Arlon. I was thinking that the other players and the GM weren’t getting too engaged with the series and wanted to throw something in here that no one would see coming, even the GM. That’s when I knew.
> 
> But I knew the moment had to be perfect, so I ended up telling the GM anyway so he could give me some feedback. I was right: he didn’t see it coming. But that sadistic smile that appeared on his face when I told him… Man. 
> 
> So, timeline wise, this final part happens concurrently to what we’ve seen so far in Volume 3. The first scene is a retelling of the final scene in Volume 3, Chapter 1 from the Red Suns’ perspective. The next scene was one of the first ones I thought of for this series: just Arlon yelling at Graves. That one happens concurrently with the beginning of Volume 3, Chapter 6. The next scene on Harmonia takes place during the events of the end of Volume 3, Chapter 7. And finally, the rest takes place just after Volume 3, Chapter 9, concurrently with the events of Chapter 10 and Chapters 11 and 12 which hadn't been written at the time of this part's writing.
> 
> The big idea with this part was to show the Galaxy slowly going to shit, and the Red Suns just trying to keep up and revise their plans. The Mewtwos have been fully unleashed upon the Galaxy! It culminates with Arlon giving his life to stop one, allowing his men, his friends, his family to live to fight another day. He gave his life to ensure there’s actually a Galaxy for his unborn child to grow up in.


	79. Volume 3, Chapter 12: Anscestors

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Helix crew finds something unexpected on the icy world Morgan saw in the Eye of Aether.

“You’re sure of this?” Shane asks. He, Morgan, Dmitri, and H stand gathered around the holotable in the _Helix_ ’s situation room.

“Absolutely,” Morgan answers. “The Eye showed me these coordinates. There’s something important on this planet.” She points to the hologram of a large gas giant hovering above the table. “I saw a man frozen in ice.”

“And what is so important about this man?” H asks.

“I don’t know,” Morgan tells him. “But when I asked the Eye to show me the most successful attempt Humans made fighting the Mewtwos in the past, this is what it showed me.”

“I say we go check it out,” Dmitri speaks up.

“I agree,” Morgan tells the others.

“These coordinates are in Genevan space,” Shane says. “But they’re also in a remote system in the sector with the least Romanov presence and, with my warp powers, we shouldn’t encounter any problems. I say we go.”

“Well, that settles it,” H announces. “What do we know about this planet anyway?”

“It’s called Jötunheimr,” Morgan informs the others. “It’s a gas giant with a small, icy moon. It’s not inhabited, but there’s a small research station there funded by New Sweden. Hopefully, the scientists there can tell us more about the vision I had.”

“There’s only one way to find out,” Shane tells her. “I’ll head to the bridge and jump us there now.”

“I think we should let Minerva fly for now,” Morgan responds. “At least until we get out of warp space. I think we could all use some rest… and I think Alex still needs more time to recover.”

“Very well,” H says with a sigh. “I’ll be in my lab until then.”

* * *

Several hours later, the _Helix_ drops out of warp space near Jötunheimr in Sector 11. Minerva flies the ship to the small icy rock orbiting the large, icy blue gas giant and sets it down near the only structure.

“Well, the atmosphere’s breathable,” Minerva observes, glancing over the console. “But it’s kind of cold out.” She points at the temperature reading of -10 °C. “So, have fun freezing your butts off.”

“We won’t be outside very long,” Morgan tells her. “I hope.” She then turns to her crewmates. “I’ll go get Alex,” she tells them. “We’ll meet you at the airlock.”

While the others head for the airlock, Morgan stops by Alex’s room. “Alex, we’ve arrived,” she calls out as she knocks on the door. “Alex, are you in there?”

“Yeah,” she hears the girl respond through the door. It sounds as if she just woke up.

“Can I come in?” Morgan asks.

“Uh, sure,” Alex answers.

Morgan activates the door console and the door slides open. She steps into the room and sees Alex lying in her bed, snuggled up next to Naomi, whose arm is wrapped around her. Morgan can’t help but smile a bit, knowing that Alex has someone like her looking out for her. 

“We’re, uh, getting ready to head out,” Morgan informs Alex. “I thought you might want to join us.”

“Sure,” Alex tells her. She sits herself up, then slides her feet into her boots and quickly buckles them up.

“It’s kind of cold out, so you might want to bring a jacket or something,” Morgan tells the girl.

“I… uh, don’t have one,” Alex answers as she stands up.

“You can take mine,” Naomi tells her. She hops up from the bed, then grabs her faux leather jacket and drapes it over Alex’s shoulders. Holding onto the collar, she pulls Alex in close. Foreheads nearly touching, Naomi gazes into Alex’s big brown eyes. “Please, be safe,” she tells her before kissing her softly on the lips.

“I will,” Alex tells her as she wraps her arms around her. “I promise.” After a few moments, Alex breaks from the embrace and follows Morgan out the door, sliding her arms into the jacket’s sleeves.

As they walk toward the airlock, Morgan places her hand on Alex’s shoulder. “Are you alright?” she asks. “We haven’t had a chance to talk since… well, you know…”

“I’m fine,” Alex tells her, flashing her a smile. However, Morgan can tell that it’s an empty one; looking into the girl’s eyes that were once full of hope, she now only sees deep wells of sadness. 

“Are you sure?” Morgan asks.

Suddenly, she can see Alex’s expression change. Morgan sees a fierce determination in the girl’s face that she has never seen before. “I’m okay now,” Alex tells her. “I promise you. I’m with you guys one-hundred percent.”

* * *

The cold air bites at the _Helix_ crew as they step off the ship. Eager to get out of the cold, they hurry toward the nearby structure, passing by a group of Gigaliths and Boldores with blue crystals of ice jutting out from their bodies instead of the usual rock crystal formations.

Morgan knocks on the door of the structure, and it slides open a short while later, revealing a man with a short, but full beard. “Visitors?” he asks, sounding a bit confused. The crew notes a heavy Swedish accent in his speech. “Come in. Come in,” he beckons them. “You must be freezing.”

“Thank you,” Morgan tells him as she and her crewmates step into the warm air.

“So, who are you anyway?” the man asks.

“Just travelers,” Dmitri answers.

“I see… Well, my name is Jens. Dr. Jens Björler,” the man introduces himself. He then glances over at a nearby woman. “And this is my colleague, Dr…”

“Olivia Löfgren,” the woman finishes, walking up to the new arrivals. She extends her arm and meets Morgan with a firm handshake. “Jens, why don’t you go make our guests some hot chocolate?”

“Oh, sure, that’s probably a good idea,” the man tells her before hurrying off.

“Here, have a seat,” Dr. Löfgren tells the _Helix_ crew, motioning to a nearby table. “We don’t get many visitors out here,” she continues as as she sits down with them. “What brings you this far out?”

“We heard there was an artifact that might be on this planet,” Morgan answers. “What are you all researching here?”

“We’re researching Jötunheimr,” Dr. Löfgren tells her. She glances out the window at the icy blue gas giant. “There is a small site down there.”

“Oh,” Morgan responds, a bit surprised. “Really? Have you found anything?”

“Well, it’s not exactly the _friendliest_ workplace environment,” Dr. Löfgren explains. “So, we’ve been doing remote surveys from here, where it’s warm.”

“And not poisonous,” Morgan adds.

“Actually, Jötunheimr has a breathable atmosphere, surprisingly,” Dr. Löfgren informs her.

“Well, I’m sure it’s not the healthiest stuff to breathe,” Morgan replies.

“The gasses are the least of your worries,” the doctor tells her. “You see, the site we found is on the second moon.” She points out at Jötunheimr.

“There’s a moon down there?” Morgan asks.

“Yes,” Dr. Löfgren answers. “We determined that, long ago, two moons orbited this world. However, an asteroid collision knocked it down into Jötunheimr’s atmosphere, and it has been there ever since.”

“Is there any way to get down there?” Morgan asks her.

“Oh, we have a shuttle,” the doctor explains “We usually just use it to transport equipment, but occasionally we’ll go down there. I hate going down there…”

“Is there any chance you could let us down there to take a look?” Morgan asks.

“I don’t see why you would _want_ to go down there, but sure,” Dr. Löfgren tells her. “Do you have anything to handle the extreme conditions?”

“We have a space suit on our ship,” Dmitri answers.

“Well, that’s a good start,” Dr. Löfgren replies. “We have four cold suits here that you could borrow.”

“How much?” Morgan asks.

“What do you mean, ‘how much?’”

“I mean, do you want us to pay you to rent them?”

“Well, yes, we would need them back,” the doctor tells her. “We would be kind of screwed without them… How much are you offering?”

“I don’t know,” Morgan tells her. “Like 0ne-thousand credits for each suit?”

“Okay,” Dr. Löfgren agrees.

* * *

After they finish their hot chocolate, Dr. Löfgren shows the crew the shuttle and provides them with the cold-resistant suits. It takes about another hour for the researchers to plot the correct course for the shuttle’s autopilot, but once they finish, the crew sets out.

One shuttle ride spent in silence later, the crew touches down on Jötunheimr’s second moon. The harsh, icy winds of the gas giant pelt the moon with snow and hail. Through the blizzard, they can see a mountain a short ways away.

“That must be where we need to go,” Morgan says over the comms.

The crew heads off toward the mountain, slowly pressing on through the powerful gusts of chilling wind. As they draw near, they come across a group of Cryogonals. “I could use one of those,” Morgan tells her crewmates.

As they approach the Pokemon, the ground begins to rumble and an icy Steelix bursts out from the snow. It lets out a powerful roar before swallowing one of the Cryogonals whole. Then, the giant Pokemon turns to face the crew. They reach for their Pokeballs and send out their own Pokemon prepared to fight the massive beast.

In response to the appearance of so many Pokemon, one of the remaining Cryogonals casts out a protective aura around itself and its friend for protection. However, it does little to stop the pester ball H fires out of his Pokeball cannon. The ball detonates in a fiery explosion, setting the two Cryogonals and the Steelix on fire. In retaliation, the other Cryogonal fires off a beam of cold energy in a random direction, nearly hitting Morgan’s Charizard.

“Anubis, use Swords Dance!” Alex commands her Lucario. As the Pokemon builds up power, Alex run up to the Steelix and starts waving her arms to get its attention. “Hey!” she shouts at it. As it moves to attack, the girl tauntingly blows a kiss at it, causing it to trip up.

As the Cryogonals move in to attack again, Dmitri casts out a burst of energy, dazing one of them. “Blaise, use Flame Burst!” Morgan then commands her Charizard, directing the Pokemon after the dazed Cryogonal. Blaise exhales a ball of fire at the icy Pokemon, knocking it down into the snow. Morgan immediately follows up by throwing a Pokeball, successfully capturing the Cryogonal.

“Roman, Blaze Kick!” Dmitri orders his Blaziken. The Blaze Pokemon leaps at the remaining Cryogonal, striking it directly in the face with a flaming talon and cracking its icy form. While it survives the hit, the Cryogonal passes out a few moments later due to its burns.

Picking itself back up, the Steelix rushes at Alex’s Lucario and bites him with its icy fangs. Anubis raises his arms and manages to block to brunt of the attack.

“Now, #1, use Hammer Arm!” H commands his recently evolved Rhyperior. The Drill Pokemon charges at the Steelix and smashes it with his powerful arms, taking it down.

“Hey, I was trying to catch that,” Dmitri grumbles.

“Well, if it went down that easily, it probably wasn’t worth catching anyway,” H retorts. “Now, let us move on!”

The crew continues toward the mountain, and come across a Glalie and a Froslass. After wasting several Pokeballs failing to capture the Pokemon, they accidentally knock them out. Deciding to cut their losses, the crew hurries along toward the mountain, ignoring any other Pokemon they come across.

* * *

Eventually, the _Helix_ crew arrives at the mountain and begins climbing a path up. A short while later, they come across a flat plateau scattered with the ruins of what appears to be some sort of temple.

“I don’t recognize this architecture at all,” Morgan comments as they move further into the ruins. “It’s not like the other ruins we’ve seen.”

“Well, whatever this place was, it seems they had pretty advanced tech,” H responds. He points over at what appears to be a functional stasis pod a short way away. “That _definitely_ wasn’t in any of the other ruins.”

They move closer to the pod, passing through some pillars holding up a roof over their heads. Drawing even nearer, they can see two large, icy statues flanking the pod. “This place seems very old,” Dmitri observes. “Older than anywhere we’ve been.”

“But it seems familiar too,” Shane tells him. “Maybe it’s from a previous cycle?”

“Possibly,” Morgan agrees. “But, wherever we are, this is the place the Eye showed me.” She walks toward the stasis pod. “This is the man I saw.”

Alex walks up behind Morgan and looks at the pod. Through the layers of ice and snow she can see the outline of a Human, but she also sees something else. “I think there’s a Pokemon in there too,” she says.

“Fascinating,” H comments. “Let’s find a way to open this pod.”

Shane walks up to the pod, but as he steps forward a pedestal springs up out of the snow. A glowing red jewel sits atop it. “That’s weird,” he says. He reaches out and touches the jewel, and it turns blue in response. Dmitri walks up to it and touches it as well, causing it to become red again. Then, Morgan touches it, and it changes to blue once more. Finally, H touches it and it becomes red.

“H, just leave it blue,” Morgan tells him. “Let’s see what it does.” She touches the jewel once more and it changes to blue.

“Well, nothing seems to be happening,” H grumbles.

“Just wait a minute,” Morgan tells him.

“Hey, guys, were the statues that close before?” Dmitri suddenly asks.

“I don’t really remember,” Shane tells him.

“I think Dmitri might be onto something,” Morgan chimes in.

“Let’s see here,” H says to himself. He touches the jewel several times, causing it to blip back and forth between red and blue, then looks back at the statues. He repeats this process several more times before the ground begins to rumble.

Suddenly, the two statues fires off beams of ice at Shane, who happens to be standing closest to them. He instinctively teleports himself to safety, causing the beams to kick up a burst of snow. The statues step forward in unison. H quickly touches the jewel once more, causing it to turn blue, then darts away from the statues and releases his Treveant.

Alex hops back from the stasis pod and throws a Pokeball as hard as she can at the statue on the right. The ball lets out a burst of electricity as it collides, then the girl’s Chandelure springs out. “Lumiera, use Minimize!” Alex commands the Pokemon as she catches her ball. Looking at the statues, Alex realizes they look eerily similar to the one the crew encountered on Prague over a month ago.

Dmitri throws out his Blaziken, then sends a ghostly wisp of flame in the direction of the ice-statue on the right. Unfortunately, a stray chunk of hail blows into it, causing it to disperse.

“#4, use Growth!” H commands. His ghostly tree Pokemon grows in size as it builds up power.

The glowing dots on the faces of the statues flash in a pattern as they acquire targets. They lock onto Dmitri’s Blaziken and Alex’s Chandelure, then fire off beams of ice that chew right through the Pokemon despite the obvious type-resistance.

“ _What?!_ ” Alex cries out in dismay.

“The jewel!” Shane shouts. “It must be affecting them somehow! We need to make it red again!” He then throws out his Klefki behind one of the pillars, hoping it will remain unseen.

“Roman, use Slash!” Dmitri commands. His Blaziken charges at the statue on the right and swipes at it with his sharp claw. As he jumps back, a large gust of wind blows a torrent of hail at the Pokemon, knocking him out.

Morgan runs forward and sends out her Pikachu, then, using her new influence over Time, gives herself a few extra seconds to charge up psionic energy. “Jean, use Slam!”  The Pikachu sprints at the statue the crew has been focusing on, then launches himself at it. “Now, use Electro Ball!” As Jean springs back off the statue, it fires off a massive ball of lightning at it, delivering a pretty mighty blow.

“Enough of this nonsense!” H shouts. He fires off a shot from his Pokeball cannon at the jewel causing it to shift back to red.

“Lumiera, use Inferno!” Alex commands her Chandelure. The ghostly chandelier unleashes a torrent of flames at the statue nearest to her, but a large gust of icy wind blows them away from the target. Alex utters a Sinai curse under her breath. She runs up the ice-statue and blows a kiss at it. The thing’s eye-lights flash in bizarre pattern as it tries unsuccessfully to compute the girl’s actions, and stumbles into a nearby pillar.

Seizing the opportunity, Dmitri recalls his fainted Blaziken and releases his Gyarados. He then tries to cast out his aura to deactivate one of the ice statues, but fails. In response, the statue launches a giant ball of lightning at Dmitri’s Gyarados. Luckily, the shot goes wide. Dmitri immediately blasts the statue with his aura again, screwing with its targeting system. “Ness, use Iron Tail on the other one!” he commands his Pokemon. The Gyarados lifts his tail and slams it into the other ice statue, breaking off a chunk of its frozen form.

“K.E.Y.S., use Thunder Wave!” Shane commands his Klefki as he points at the statue Dmitri had just dazed. The Key Ring Pokemon fires off a bolt of electricity at the icy automaton, further incapacitating it as his trainer drops into warp space to prepare an attack. 

“Jean, use Volt Tackle!” Morgan commands her Pikachu. The electric mouse sprints at one of the ice statues and slams into it, discharging volts of lighting as he makes contact.

Meanwhile, Alex runs up to the other one and attempts to distract it and draw it away from the others. When this fails, she decides to have her Pokemon attack. “Lumiera, use Inferno!” the girl shouts. Her ghostly companion unleashes a tide of flames at the icy statue, but they seem to just bend around it, melting all the surrounding ice and snow instead.

“#4, use Growth!” H commands. His Trevenant continues to build up more power, while H does the same, storing up electricity to unleash a powerful attack.

The statues continue advancing toward the retreating crew, locking on and preparing to fire off another salvo of attacks. One’s face-lights start flashing chaotically, still seeming to malfunction. The other, however, fires off a giant blast of ice and snow, hitting Morgan’s Pikachu and Dmitri’s Gyarados, trapping both Pokemon in a solid chunk of ice.

Morgan immediately recalls her Pokemon, then sends out her Charizard and unleashes a burst of fire from her flamethrower. The statue she was targeting steps through the flames unhindered. Shane then reappears behind it and attempts to strike at it with his marked hand. Despite its size, the icy construction easily dodges out of the way.

The crew and their Pokemon continue trading blows with the automatons, slowly whittling one down while trying to keep the other out of their hair so they can focus on one at a time. The icy beings take down several of their Pokemon and don’t seem to show any signs of slowing down.

“By the divine power of fate!” H declares as he steps forward toward the statues. “You shall be defeated!” Sparks fly out in all directions as he focuses volts upon volts of electricity into his Pokeball cannon. He fires off a pester ball, which leaves a streak of lightning behind it as it flies through the air. It detonates in a fiery explosion, which then erupts into a massive blast of electricity. As the automaton fractures into a thousand pieces, it fires off one last beam of ice, which slices through a pillar, causing it to fall on top of H.

“You’re next!” Alex shouts tauntingly at the remaining ice statue, waving her finger at it. The automaton’s face-lights flash red in response. “Lumiera, Inferno!” The girl’s Chandelure releases a massive surge of flames at the ice being, burning right through its defenses. Dmitri immediately follows up the attack with a blast of psionic energy, halting the statue’s advance.

“Blaise, use Flame Burst!” Morgan commands. Her Charizard flies in and spits out a ball of fire at the icy automaton, doing a real number on it.

The statue’s eye lights flash rapidly, and it focuses in on Blaise. The air around the automaton begins to rapidly drop in temperature as it summons a giant sphere of cold energy. Time seems to stand still as it lobs the sphere at the Charizard. “ _No!_ ” Alex cries in dismay, recognizing the lethality of the attack. She refuses to let anyone’s Pokemon die if there’s anything she can do to stop it from happening. “Lumiera, intercept it!” she cries out.

Alex’s Chandelure moves to take the hit, but it’s clear she won’t make it in time. Thinking quickly, Shane uses his command over Space to swap Lumiera’s and Blaise’s positions. The sphere collides with the Chandelure, completely encasing her in ice. Alex can see her flames go out. Then, the mass of ice explodes, leaving behind shards of ice and frozen chunks of Lumiera.

 _She’s a ghost, she’ll be fine_ , Alex tells herself as she recalls her shattered Chandelure into her Pokeball. _She **has** to be_.

“Gigan, Steel Wing!” Dmitri commands his Scizor. The metallic bug flies at the icy construction to strike, but it swats her away.

“K.E.Y.S., use Flash Cannon!” Shane shouts to his Klefki. K.E.Y.S. begins to glow, then fires off a beam of light into the statue’s back.

Seeing an opening, H fires off a shot from his cannon at the automaton, putting a crack in its icy armor. “Someone hit the jewel!” the cyborg shouts. “I have a plan!”

“Got it!” Alex responds. She releases Leviathan behind her as she runs toward the jewel. She places her hand on it, causing it to change back to blue, then turns to command her Pokemon. “Leviathan, use Thunder!” A giant bolt of lightning descends from the sky, striking the automaton on the top of its head.

“Now, #4, Wood Hammer!” H shouts. His Trevenant rumbles over to the icy statue, boughs raised high. The ghostly tree slams them down at the automaton, but fails to make contact.

“So much for that plan,” Shane remarks.

“Let’s try a new plan!” Dmitri shouts. He pulls out a Pokeball and throws it at the giant icy creature. The ball makes contact and pulls it inside, then falls to the ground. It shakes three times before the automaton breaks free.

“Just a bit more damage should do it,” Morgan says to her crewmates. “Blaise, Dragon Rage!” Her Charizard flies over to the statue and spits out a ball of blue flame at it. However, the statue extinguishes the flame with a swipe of its massive arm, an arm it then brings down on Blaise, smashing him into the ground.

“Gigan, False Swipe!” Dmitri commands his Scizor. Gigan flies in and strikes the icy construction with one of her claws, further whittling it down.

In sequence, Morgan, Shane, and Alex all attempt captures of their own, but the automaton refuses to stay in a ball. H then loads a timer ball into his cannon and fires it at the ice statue, putting another crack in its frozen body. It pulls the automaton inside, but, just as before, it breaks out.

As it emerges once more, the ice statue locks onto Leviathan and launches a giant ball of electricity at it. With the jewel blue, the attack could have done a real number on the giant Pokemon but, luckily, the shot goes wide.

Once more, Morgan and Shane attempt to capture the automaton, but it breaks free of their Pokeballs yet again. “Clearly fate has dictated that we’re not supposed to capture this thing!” H declares. “Let us destroy it!” Out from his lab coat he pulls a sledge hammer. He hefts it up high and charges at the automaton.

“No, H!” Shane shouts. He quickly calls upon his power, and swaps positions with H, causing him to instead smash a pillar to pieces.

Seeing an opening, Alex takes a step toward the icy statue. She slaps a case that will increase her chances of a successful capture on one of her custom Pokeballs, then throws it with all her might. The ball pulls the statue inside and falls into the snow. It shakes once… twice… three times… then falls still.

As Alex walks over to claim her prize, the others, with the exception of H, watch her with impressed looks on their faces. For the second time, the young girl has captured a rare and extremely powerful Pokemon.

H, on the other hand, is not particularly impressed and returns to examining the strange jewel. He pokes it several times, changing it from red to blue and back until it starts sinking back into the ground. The hatch it emerged from shuts, pinching H’s finger. Annoyed the cyborg slices off his own finger, and welds over the wound.

Alex moves across the battlefield, picking up the scattered scraps of the crew’s broken Pokeballs and shoving them into her bag. When she’s finished, the girl walks up to Morgan and holds out her new capture. “Here, you can have this,” she tells her.

“Oh, uh, _thank you_ ,” Morgan replies, sounding quite surprised. She grabs the ball out of Alex’s hand, then pulls another one out. “Here,” she says. “You can have this Cryogonal I caught earlier instead.”

“No, you don’t have to give me anything,” Alex protests.

“I want you to have it,” Morgan tells her. “You’ll probably take better care of it than I will anyway.”

“Alright,” Alex agrees. She flashes Morgan a brief smile, then takes the ball out of her hand. “I’ll make sure it has a happy home.”

“Okay, let’s figure out how to open this thing,” Shane says, directing everyone’s attention back to the stasis pod. “This technology is like nothing I’ve seen before,” he continues. “I think it’s older than _I_ am.”

“So, how does it work?” Alex asks. She walks up and examines the control panel on the pod. “There aren’t even any buttons,” the girl grumbles. “Just weird symbols.”

“We could just smash it open,” H suggests hefting  up his sledge hammer.

“No, H,” Morgan tells him. “That could kill him.” She eyes the man inside the pod again.

“Let’s see here,” Shane says to himself. He reaches out and places his hand on the panel. The symbols begin to glow in response to his touch. “Uh, yeah. Let’s say that was intentional.” 

The stasis pod begins to heat up, and the snow and ice covering it melts away. Inside, the frozen green stasis fluid melts into liquid form. A rush of heat bursts forth from the pod as the front slides open and the fluid spills out into the snow, causing it to instantly dissolve into clouds of steam.

Through the steam, the crew can see the silhouettes of a tall man with a small Pokemon floating beside him. Slowly, the figure steps forward, revealing a dark-skinned, hairless man followed by a cute pink Pokemon with a long tail and blue eyes. Something seems very familiar about it. The man’s eyelids open and he gazes upon the people before him with his purple eyes.

“So, what did we need this guy for again?” H asks.

“The Eye didn’t exactly say, but I assume it’s _that_ ,” Morgan answers, pointing at the man’s Pokemon companion.

“Alright, so kill the hobo, get the Pokemon,” H replies. “Got it.”

“ _No!_ ” Morgan shouts at him.

“If they were frozen together, they’re probably both important,” Dmitri chimes in.

The man closes his eyes and holds his hand out. Morgan can feel his mind touching her own; she can feel him absorbing language from her.

H steps forward, then grabs the man’s hand and steers it into a handshake. The man gives him a confused look for a moment, before his expression turns serious once more. “It has begun, then?” he asks.

“Yes, it has,” Shane answers.

The man turns his eyes skyward, and pensively gazes up at the stars and falling snow. Morgan immediately recognizes this image from her vision. After several seconds he looks back at the crew. “I see.”

“Can you help us?” Morgan asks.

“Do you think you are the first to come here and ask for my help?” he returns with a question.

“No,” Shane answers. “But we hope to be the last.”

The man looks back at his stasis pod, then at his Pokemon, and, finally, back to the crew. He seems to be deep in thought.

“Not much hope involved,” H tells Shane. “Keep in mind, we are dealing with Time now. If you’re hoping for something, that means you think it could fail, which means there will be an alternate timeline in which it does fail. We will succeed, because I will become the most perfect being in the Universe.”

“Shut up, H,” Shane tells him.

The man looks at H dismissively for a moment, then address the crew. “What makes you think that I can help you? What makes me think that you can be saved?”

“The Eye told us that we needed your help,” Morgan answers. “That you were the _only_ person who had _any_ success fighting the Mewtwos.”

The man sits down in a meditative position, and gazes up at Morgan. “The Eye shows us only what we will see,” he tells her. “You are wrong. I do not fight the Gods.”

“Who… _are_ you?” Alex asks.

“I am Adám.” He raises his hand, and his Pokemon floats to him. “Who _are you?_ ”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was a challenging chapter to write up. The first chapter for this session was a breeze to write, but this one just took a lot out of me. Writing up long combat scenes is draining. I cut out a large chunk of the middle of that Regice fight and it still went on for quite a while. I’m happy with how it all turned out though.
> 
> The first few scenes here had a lot of details that were added in later, or were scenes that didn’t happen in-game at all. The scene in the situation room originally had no dialogue and was just the GM giving us a little background on where we were going, so I just synthesized it into character dialogue. And with the next scene, I felt like there needed to be some interaction with Alex after her horrible experience. Morgan and Alex are pretty close so I felt like it was kind of needed. Plus I used it to show off how Alex is both broken inside and more determined than ever. And more adorable interactions between Alex and Naomi are always welcome! Moving on to the scientists. The dialogue was there, but I gave the characters names and descriptions. I think it came together quite nicely.
> 
> The ice planet idea was pretty interesting. Ignoring the fact that a gas giant is super unlikely to have breathable atmosphere, and the gravity on a moon inside one would be super weird, the place was interesting. We were going to capture that ice-type steelix, but H’s player thought it would be a good idea to use a really powerful double super-effective move when it wasn’t at full health… I glossed over it here, but we spent a really long time trying to catch the Froslass and Glalie and somehow they jumped from too much HP to catch to fainted stupidly fast.
> 
> Then there was the boss fight, which had some weird elements to it. The whole inverse battle thing felt really shoehorned in there and didn’t make a whole lot of sense narratively if you ask me. The Regices were hard to take down and the fight went on a long time, so long that I cut a big chunk out here as I mentioned earlier. Plus they had Sheer Cold… more on that later. We threw a ton of Pokeballs and I once again proved that custom Pokeball are the best. I wonder why literally no one has ever asked Alex to make them some. Ultimately, I chose to give it away to help balance the party. Morgan generally had the lowest levels and Alex likes her the best, so she’s the one who got it.
> 
> But that Sheer Cold… the GM had been running OHKO moves as having a chance to kill for the final volume so it made them all the more lethal. It hadn't come up enough for us to determine if it was truly balanced, but it is what it is. The Regice used it on Morgan’s Charizard and the dice determined it would be a lethal hit. We were having none of that, so, thanks to the GM's homebrew rule that ghost-type Pokemon can’t die, I decided to have my Chandelure intercept it. Unfortunately, I rolled all 1s on the intercept check. Luckily, Shane could use his brand to swap their positions. But, because of my roll, the GM decided to inflict consequences upon my Pokemon that we will see in the next chapter. Personally, I felt, given the context, that it wasn’t fair, but you can only disagree with the GM so much since they are the one in charge after all.
> 
> There’s some other behind-the-scenes stuff I don’t want to get into, so now we will move on to our new friend, Adám and his Mew. Shit’s getting all biblical up in here. It was an unexpected thing, and we’ll see where it goes next chapter.


	80. Volume 3, Chapter 13: Descendants

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Helix crew learns of the ancient history of the Universe.

“Who _are you?_ ”

Shane steps forward and begins to speak. “Well, I’m-”

“Ah ah ah ah ah,” H interrupts. “I go first.”

Shane let’s out a long sigh.

“I am Ara Haoshyangha,” H continues. “Savior of the Universe and future to all of the benefit of mankind, bringer of enlightenment and chaser of perfection.”

Shane buries his face in his palm.

“These…” H trails off as he looks back at his crewmates. “Are my humble and incredibly valuable tools.”

“ _You’re_ a tool,” Alex snaps back.

“ _Exactly_ ,” H agrees, completely missing the meaning of the girl’s words.

“Anyway,” Shane says, turning his attention back to Adám. “I’m Shane, and this is Morgan, Alex and Dmitri.”

“So, what _were_ you in that cryotube for?” H asks, looking directly at Adám.

“This is where I rest through the ages,” the man answers.

“So, you’ve slept through the apocalypse?” H asks. “Multiple times? And you weren’t murdered because…?”

“I do not presume to know the will of the Gods,” Adám answers.

“And how do you know it’s been multiple cycles?”

“As I said, you are not the first to have awakened me.”

“And? What did you tell them?”

“What I told you.” Adám pauses for a brief moment to look up at the sky. “You cannot be helped.”

“Well, I’m not sure if this means anything to you, but I’m the Gardener for this cycle,” Shane tells him.

Adám looks Shane up and down, then reaches out and places his hand on his head. Shane feels a spiritual connection, and, to him, it feels as if Adám is analyzing his mind. “You are quite different from the previous ones,” the man tells him, noting his human form.

“Just as we are quite different from those who woke you before,” H butts in. “You should come with us.”

“I remain unconvinced,” Adám tells him.

“Well, then you could go back into your cryotube, and then you’ll just wake up to other idiots asking you about why you’re in a cryotube, and that is going to be your life _forever_.”

“Such is the way of the Universe.”

“Well, that’s a _stupid_ existence,” Alex comments.

“It is the way it must be.”

“Look, look,” H continues. “Your magical powers super whatever, I don’t care. You can come back to your cryotube if you want. I know you could probably do that through something I don’t care about. **But**  you can also come with us, see something that you haven’t seen before, possibly, and _then_ you can go back to your cryotube. Break up the monotony.”

“And, can I ask,” Shane chimes in. “Across all of the times you’ve been awakened, have you found anyone who you’ve actually deemed worthy?”

“If I had, we would not be having this conversation.”

“Fair enough.”

“So, you’re completely indifferent to the death of everyone in this Universe?” Morgan asks.

“When you have experienced as much death as I have, you become numb to it.”

“And that’s any excuse to just… _give up?_ You don’t even feel bad about the fact that you’re numb?”

“It is possible to feel emotions without them weighing you down,”Adám replies calmly. “There is a difference between controlling your inner turmoil and letting it control you.”

Before she can respond, Morgan suddenly gasps as she has yet another vision of a Mewtwo touching the Eye Aether. This time it’s much more vivid; she sees the monster casually snap the necks of the guards on the station, then approach the artifact. Morgan quickly walks up to Shane and pokes him in the back. “We have to get back to the Eye,” she tells him.

“Let’s deal with this guy first,” he responds, then turns to face Adám. “We really need to get going, Can we continue this conversation back on our ship?”

Adám looks up at the stars. “How far into this ascension are you?” he asks.

“I’d say we’re nearing the apocalyptic phase,” Shane tells him.

“The Mewtwos have already been created,” Morgan elaborates. “And they’re waking up now.”

“Then, I believe we still have some time,” Adám replies. “Very well.”

* * *

Back aboard the _Helix_ , Morgan summons the crew to the situation room to introduce their new passenger. “This is Adám,” she explains once everyone gathers. “He’s seen other cycles and he might be able to help us.”

“Wait, _Adám?_ ” Meta asks. “Like Sinai bible Adám? _Seriously?_ Welp, there goes those Spacenet arguments...”

“So, uh, who is this guy?” H asks.

“I would tell you the story,” Shane tells him. “But I need to go warp the ship.”

“Summarize it,” H responds, but Shane ignores him and walks out of the room. H then turns to Meta and asks her the same question.

Meta lets out a long, resigned sigh. “Are you at all familiar with old Earth religion?” she asks the cyborg.

“No.”

“ _Good_ ,” Meta tells him. “It’s a whole load of Tauros anyway.”

“ _Hey_ ,” Alex protests. “Clearly it’s not all bullshit. I mean, I don’t believe in a lot of the stuff the monks told me, but _obviously_ some things are true.” The girl glances over at Adám.

“Well, even if they got a few things right, most of it is _probably_ bullshit,” Meta retorts. She then turns back to H. “Basically, all you really need to know is that, supposedly, long ago the Gods, or, in this case, the Mewtwos it would seem, created two beings: a Human and a Pokemon.”

“In the bible, the first human is called Adám, and his Pokemon companion is Eve,” Alex butts in. “They are the ancestors of all Humans and Pokemon who came after them.”

“Well, we don’t really know if that’s true,” Meta tells her. “But, given that the Mewtwos required a Human and a sample of this first Pokemon to make more, I suppose it _is_ more statistically likely than I thought. If all of this is true, then we have the originals standing here among us.” The hacker glances over at Adám and his Pokemon.

“Alright, wonderful,” H responds, having been eagerly absorbing the girls’ words. “Wait, so that means those two… and them… and that means that they are Mewtwo, which means that… Wonderful!” The cyborg enthusiastically runs up to Adám. “Would you mind if I stab you with a bunch of sharp needles?” he asks. “It won’t hurt. It probably will, but it won’t.”

“H, stabbing people with needles isn’t the best way to start out asking for help,” Morgan warns the cyborg.

“I fail to see what possible need there could be for this,” Adám speaks up, eyeing H suspiciously. “I will not allow it.”

“It’s just for some simple tests,” H explains. “It won’t hurt for that long, then you’ll go back into your cryotube and the Universe will end again. What does it matter?”

“H, I’d rather the Universe not end,” Morgan responds.

“Look,” H says to Adám, ignoring Morgan completely. “It’s just going to be a pinch. I’m going to pinch you now, you’re going to let me do it, it’s going to be for the greater good of everybody, and you’ll be perfectly fine. If you don’t, you will pay for it.”

Unlike H, Morgan gets the sense that Adám does not have a fear of needles so much as a worry about invasive science. “H, stop it,” Morgan tells the cyborg coldly.

“Fine then,” H says. He steps forward and grabs Adám’s arms firmly. He extends his robotic third arm toward the man.

Adám gives H a stern and serious look. “You walk down a dangerous path,” he warns as his Pokemon companion floats up behind the cyborg, eyes glowing fiercely.

“H, stop!” Morgan demands as she points her flamethrower at him.

“How many times do we have to tell you? That’s not how you make friends!” Shane shouts as he steps back into the situation room.

“No,” H replies. “But it is how you stop the Universe from exploding. I put the potential solution to stopping all of Humanity from being wiped out over the needs of a random man we met _in the middle of nowhere_ , frozen **in a glacier!** ”

“ _H, look out!_ ” Shane shouts, seeing Adám’s Pokemon preparing to attack. He quickly swaps his position with the cyborg just in time to be blasted with psychic energy and knocked to the floor.

“Shane!” H shouts, annoyed. He pulls out a pester ball and prepares to throw it.

“ ** _H, stop!_** ” Shane screams angrily back at the cyborg.

Suddenly, Morgan unleashes a torrent of flames all over the room. Seizing the moment, Shane uses his command of Space to move himself, Adám, and his Pokemon out of the room.

Angry, H throws the pester ball in his hand at Morgan. Thinking quickly, Alex pulls out one of her custom Pokeballs modified to hold non-living matter. With her enhanced spatial awareness, Alex easily calculates the correct angle and throws the ball as hard as she can. While her thought had been to capture H’s pester ball, Alex only manages to hit it with her Pokeball, causing it to explode before it reaches Morgan.

Morgan aims her flamethrower at H again and prepares to fire. Before she gets the chance, Dmitri steps between them. “Enough!” he shouts. He releases a burst of energy outwards, putting his three crewmates to sleep.

“That’s _one_ way to end an argument,” Meta comments, having made the decision to stay out of her crewmates’ bickering.

* * *

With a concerned look on his face, Adám runs over to Shane, then kneels down beside him and places his hand on his chest. As Adám makes contact, Shane can feel himself begin to heal. “Are you alright?” the ancient man asks.

“I’ll be okay,” Shane manages to grunt. “Sorry you had to see that… This crew… We are dysfunctional, yes, but we are all working toward the same thing. We’re all trying to save the Galaxy; the only problem is, we’re going about it in _completely_ different ways. Sometimes I even think the Galaxy shouldn’t be saved… not by us at least.”

“You are very wise.”

Through the wall, they can hear the fighting stop. The roar of the flamethrower ceases, followed by three thuds.

“That said, we are very effective at what we do,” Shane says, a slight smile appearing on his face.

“And what _do_ you do, exactly?” Adám asks.

Shane just sighs. “Good question.”

* * *

A short while later, Alex wakes up and finds herself lying on her bed. It takes her a moment to figure out what happened, but, once she reorients herself, she heads down to the lower deck to heal her Pokemon.

Alex enters the med bay and places her Pokeballs in healing machine. While she waits for it to do its job, the girl looks around the room and spots Shane sitting on the far side of the room. He nods at her, then turns his attention back to treating his own injuries.

Once the machine beeps, Alex places her Pokeballs back on her belt, except for the one containing Lumiera. She releases the Chandelure from her container, revealing that the Pokemon is okay. But something is _off_.

“Lumiera, what happened to your flames?” Alex asks, even if her Pokemon can’t really answer. The Chandelure’s five pale blue flames remain extinguished. A tear rolls down Alex’s cheek as she realizes the extreme blast of cold her ghostly friend was exposed to must be the cause.

“There _must_ be a way to fix this,” Alex says desperately. “C’mon, Lumiera, try making a fire.” The Chandelure’s eyes scrunch up as she focuses, and she manages to spray out a jet of flame from the top of her head, but it doesn’t stay. “ _No!_ ” Alex cries out in dismay. “That should have worked. Why didn’t it work?”

Lumiera lets out a long, sad-sounding cry and floats closer to her trainer. “No, it’s not your fault Lumiera,” Alex tells her Pokemon as she wraps her arms around her. “It’s _mine_. I’m so sorry this happened to you. I’ll find a way to fix you. I promise.”

“Try giving it this,” Shane tells the girl. Alex looks up to see him standing next to her, holding out a fire stone.

“What am I supposed to do with this?” Alex asks. She grabs the stone out of Shane’s hand and examines it.

“I don’t know,” Shane tells her. “But your Chandelure seems to have lost its spark. Maybe this can give it back.

“I hope so,” Alex replies. She drops the stone into the hole on the top of Lumiera’s head, and it dissolves, leaving behind a tiny wisp of flame.

“Well, that was marginally disappointing,” Shane reacts.

Alex, however, seems much more hopeful. “Please, do you have any more?” She asks, grabbing onto Shane’s arms. “If we give her enough I think it can fix her.”

“I’m sorry, that’s the only one I had,” Shane informs her.

“Damn,” Alex grumbles. She releases Shane and turns back to her Pokemon. “Well, I’ll just have to buy a ton more. However many it takes.”

Shane places a reassuring hand on the girl’s shoulder. “We can stop somewhere the sells them soon, but right now it sounds like we need to go back for the Eye.”

“Thank you,” Alex replies. “I understand.”

* * *

The _Helix_ drops out of warp space in Sector 9 once more, just next to I’s station which, is now surrounded by several destroyed ships. “Looks like something’s been here since we left,” Minerva observes as she flies the ship in to dock.

“I guess so,” Shane responds.  “Well Morgan, we’re back. What was the problem?”

“A Mewtwo came to see the Eye,” Morgan tells him. “I saw it when I looked into it, and again on Jötunheimr. I feel like we shouldn’t leave it here.”

“Do you really think the _Helix_ can carry something that big?”

“We have to try.”

“Well, alright.”

Once the ship docks with the station, Shane, Morgan, Dmitri, and Alex disembark and head back to the Time wing. As they enter the chamber containing the Eye, Shane looks up at the massive spherical mass of rock, metal, and crystal and sighs. “This thing is massive,” he says. “We’re going to need a bigger ship… _Unless_...” He looks back up at the Eye.

“Unless what?” Alex asks.

“Unless we move the whole station somewhere else,” Shane tells her, lifting up his marked hand.

“You can do that?” Alex asks incredulously. “It’s freaking huge.”

“You saw all the warp drives I has installed,” Shane reminds her. “They’ll be more than enough for me to do this.”

* * *

Lieutenant Evan Matthews sits back in his seat on the bridge of the _FNS Scimitar_ , monitoring the readings from the Sector 25 warp gate, as well as keeping an eye out for any unusual warp signatures in the area.

“Sit up straight, Lieutenant,” Matthews hears the ship’s commander behind him. He immediately bolts up in his seat. “Remember, we need to be on double alert. With the Romanovs and those creatures on the loose, we can’t afford a repeat of the incident.”

“Yes, sir,” Matthews replies. “There won’t be any unusual warp phenomena on my watch.”

“Very good, Lieutenant,” the commander tells him. “Carry on.”

As he speaks the words, there’s a brilliant flash of light as a massive space station appears out of nowhere. “Uh, sir,” Matthews says to the commander. “I don’t know what to do...”

Before the commander can say anything, the station hails the _Scimitar_. “Don’t just sit there,” the commander tells Matthews. “Answer it.”

“Oh, um, yes, sir,” the lieutenant responds. He accepts the call, then moves his finger over the alarm button. 

What appears to be a teenaged boy with bright blue hair appears on the viewscreen. “Hey, guys, it’s fine,” he announces. “I know it may seem weird but we’re on your side.”

“Oh, uh, okay,” Matthews replies nervously as his finger creeps closer to the alarm.

“Please don’t,” the boy warns him. Matthews quickly moves his hand back.

“Who exactly are you?” the commander asks.

“Do you know of the abominations attacking the Galaxy?” the boy asks in return.

“We are aware of them, yes,” the commander answers.

_Shit, is one coming here?_ Matthews thinks. _Am I gonna die?_

“Look,” the boy says. “I’m on one of the teams working to try to stop those… things.”

“How do we know for sure?” the commander asks.

“You can contact Admiral Graves,” the boy tells him. “We’re working with her.”

“...Oh. Very well.”

* * *

“Well, that went well,” Shane says to his crewmates. “I think... Well, we should head back to the ship now and actually contact the Admiral.”

“You guys go,” Morgan replies. “I’ll stay here with the Eye.”

“Alright,” Shane tells her. “We’ll let you know what she says.”

Shane, Dmitri, and Alex head back to the _Helix_ and head for the situation room. On the way, the run into H and drag him along with them. Once they arrive, Shane accesses the holotable and sends a call through to Graves. Surprisingly, the admiral picks up rather quickly. “Hello,” she greets them. “I was wondering when I’d be hearing from you.”

“I’m not sure how much of this is going to surprise you, given recent events,” Shane tells her. “But we’re going to have a base in Sector 25.”

“Well, that explains that report,” Graves responds. “I guess I’ll just file this away,” she says as she swipes her hand across a datapad.

“So, how goes the war?” Shane asks.

“It goes,” Graves replies as sirens wail in the background.

“I see.”

“One has been taken down already, but there are many more.”

“Wait, you _took one down?_ ” Shane asks, shocked.

“Technically, it was your friend Arlon,” the admiral explains.

“How did he accomplish that?” Dmitri asks.

“Is here there?” Shane asks. “Can we talk to him?”

“I’ve only just received the report myself from the Red Suns.”

“Prepare to jump!” a voice sounds in the background.

“I’m afraid I must cut this conversation short,” Graves tells the crew. “I must meet with the war council.”

“Alright, well, I’ll let you get to that,” Shane tells the admiral. “It’s been nice talking to you.” As he moves to hang up, Shane managed to catch the coordinates the _Halberd_ is jumping to.

Almost immediately after the call ends, a light on the table begins to flash, indicating an incoming call. Seeing it’s from the Red Suns, Shane quickly presses the button. “Hey Arlon,” Shane says instinctively as the table projects out the holoscreen once more, but he is surprised to see the Red Suns' leader’s four lieutenants instead. They all look pretty shaken up. “Oh… Where’s Arlon? Is he there or...” Seeing the looks on their faces, Rena’s tearstained cheeks in particular, he trails off, realizing he knows the answer to the question already.

“I am afraid he did not make it, comrade,” Kiril confirms.

“He sacrificed himself to kill one of the Mewtwos,” Luke elaborates. "He died to save all of us."

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Shane replies, a sorrowful look appearing on his face.

Dmitri is also saddened, but Alex didn’t know Arlon well enough to experience much of an emotional reaction. However, the girl does bow her head in respect. H, on the other hand, stands still with a blank look on his face. Slowly, a smile appears on his face which quickly forms into a frown. He begins screaming incoherently as he casts off lightning bolts in all directions. Once the sparks stop flying, he rips the door off and throws it against the wall.

“H, what the hell are you doing?!” Shane shouts. The cyborg says nothing and storms out of the room.

“Well, he is taking news well I see,” Kiril observes.

“Please tell me you guys have a plan,” Luke says, getting the discussion back on track.

“We don’t,” Shane tells him. “Not yet.”

“At least tell me you got the Eye.”

“Yeah, we have that at least,” Shane informs him. “And we captured I’s station and relocated it, whatever good that’ll do.”

“Well, that’s something,” Petra comments. “Send us your location. We’ll be there as soon as possible, then we’ll come up with a plan.”

* * *

After hanging up with the Red Suns, the _Helix_ crew members still in the room decide to head back to the station to attend to the people and Pokemon I imprisoned in the Entropy wing. Shane gazes down the corridor between the cells as they enter the room. “We should probably ask the Federation for help with this,” he says to his crewmates.

“That’s probably a good idea,” Dmitri agrees. “I can’t really do much for so many people. My powers can only do so much.”

“How could he do such horrible things to them?” Alex asks as she crouches down in front of one of the cells. The rabid-looking Glaceon on the other side bats at the glass aggressively at her. “You poor thing,” she says, pressing her hand against the glass. “We have to help them all.”

Shane hails one of the nearby Federation ships and calls for assistance. The officer who answers tells him that they will call for a medical transport to evacuate the people and Pokemon on the station.

In the meantime, the crew works to help those they can, those least affected by Darkrai. Most of the people are too far gone for them to do much, but they do find a few Pokemon that, aside from being a bit malnourished, seem to be in a pretty healthy state. Alex finds a Magmar which she decides to take care of, Dmitri finds a Cranidos he thinks he might want to train, and Shane finds a Sandshrew, a Buizel, and a Lucario. While he feels he has enough Pokemon, Shane decides to take them, wondering if anyone back on the _Helix_ might want to care for them.

Suddenly, a loud explosion echoes through station’s corridors. “What the hell was that?!” Alex shouts in surprise.

“I don’t know, but I think it came from this station’s cargo hold,” Shane tells her, checking a map on his Pokedex.

“It was probably H,” Dmitri offers. “We should probably check on him.”

“Good idea,” Shane agrees. “I’ll handle it. I think I’m the best equipped to deal with him.”

* * *

As Shane steps into the cargo hold, a giant piece of scrap metal flies past the door and clanks loudly off the wall, leaving a  huge dent. “H, what the hell are you doing to our new station?!” he shouts, seeing the cyborg rampaging through the room. H ignores him and shouts angrily as he shoots a nearby fuel canister with lightning, causing it to explode. 

“H, please stop,” Shane tells his crewmate. H continues to throw chunks of scrap.

“Look, I’m sorry he’s gone too,” Shane says, raising his voice. “Okay? But right now we have much more pressing matters to deal with.”

H stops screaming for a moment, stands still, then picks up one last piece of scrap. He yells at the top of his lungs as he runs at the wall and jabs the scrap into the cold, gray metal as hard as he can, leaving it embedded there. The cyborg then collapses into a sitting position, slumped against the wall.

Shane walks over and places a hand on his crewmate’s shoulder. “It’ll be okay,” he says.

“Why did he have to be such an idiot?” H asks. “That stupid fool… I _knew_ I shouldn’t have let him go. I _knew_ he should have stayed. I _knew_ I should have done something. But I didn’t! I didn’t do anything!”

“H, it’s not not your fault,” Shane tells him, trying to calm him down.

“What do you mean it’s not my fault?” H asks. “I have been given tools by fate itself. You are one of them. If I don’t take good care of those tools, if I don’t stand by their side, they ** _die!_** ”

“Goddamn it, H!” Shane shouts. “So, you may have lost one of your tools… It doesn’t matter. We’re still faced with a supposedly insurmountable problem, which we now know _is_ surmountable. One of the Mewtwos was _killed_. _We_ have to kill the rest.”

“You’re right,” H agrees. He stands up, smiles, and places a hand on Shane’s shoulder. “Your sacrifices won’t be in vain.” He turns and walks out of the room with a spring in his step.

“Wait, **_what?!_** ”

* * *

_This is such a stupid plan_ , Meta thinks as she walks through the halls of the _Helix_ searching for Adám. She looks down at the gift-wrapped package H had given her and shakes her head. She agrees with H’s reasoning, but she knows there are better way to go about this. Unfortunately, the cyborg is not particularly easy to reason with.

Eventually she comes across the ancient man and walks up to him. “Here you go,” she says, holding the pack out to Adám.

“What is this?” he asks her, confused.

“It’s an apology present from H,” Meta explains. “For attacking you earlier.”

“Very well,” Adám tells her. He reaches for the package but it explodes in Meta’s hands, putting her to sleep.

Just then, Alex happens to walk past, having just returned from the station. “What the hell happened here?” the girl asks, looking at the hacker now lying on the floor.

“I am not sure,” Adám tells her. “I do not understand the people of this cycle.”

The ancient man turns and begins to walk away, off to meditate with his Pokemon. The small pink creature lingers, looking at Alex with its adorable blue eyes. For a brief moment, Alex allows herself to smile, but then the Pokemon is gone, floating along after Adám, and the girl’s smile fades.

* * *

Morgan stands before the Eye of Aether and reaches out to it. She feels bonded with the Eye and is fascinated by its power. She likes the way it feels when she connects with it, the knowledge it provides her. She watches the history of the fight against Mewtwos across the cycles play out before her.

Despite the mayhem and destruction unfolding before her eyes, Morgan revels in the wealth of knowledge now flowing through her and she gets sucked into the depths of Time. As if browsing Bulbapedia, she latches onto particular details and the Eye shows her more information.

Seeing the various ships battling the Mewtwos through the ages, Morgan wonders what the best ships from each cycle were, the ones that were most effective against the Mewtwos. She sees hundreds of ships and is surprised that a lot of them are remarkably similar; the shapes, sizes, energy sources, and materials vary, but a lot of the technologies seem constant.

Out of all the ships Morgan sees, one in particular stands out to her: a massive dreadnought, bigger than anything she’s ever seen. The vessel must be at least three times larger than the largest dreadnought in the Federation fleet. This gargantuan ship is surrounded by a swarm of countless drones as if it is some sort of hive directing them. Emblazoned on the side of the vessel is the title _FNS Arceus_.

Curious, Morgan focuses on the drones to learn more about them. The swarm seems to be made up of numerous models of automated drones that fulfil a number of functions from combat to repair, all produced and directed from the dreadnought. Morgan notes that the drones seem to function as some sort of networked intelligence; the more units in one location, the more processing power there is, the more intelligent they behave. 

The way these drones operate reminds Morgan of a brain, a single intelligence made up of a network of neurons. Curious, she wonders about what advancements were made in neurological research in other cycles. She sees so much information that the scientists of this cycle barely delved into and it fascinates her. Diving deeper in, Morgan sees that psionic abilities like her own began to emerge around the sixtieth cycle as warp technology became a staple of human technology, each cycle building upon what remnants they found of the previous one.

As she goes further and further down the Bunnelby hole, Morgan can feel a faint outside presence tugging at her, but she ignores it and keeps going. Slowly, she sees events from earlier and earlier cycles. Morgan sees that, long before the development of psionic abilities, the Humans of the early cycles had other abilities, those of a much more spiritual nature. To her, these abilities seem exactly like those that Adám demonstrated, which allowed him to connect with and understand Pokemon.

Eventually, Morgan finds herself at the beginning, at what she can only assume is the time before the very first cycle. She can see the Mewtwos come to be out of the chaos and bring order to the Universe, then the creation of Humanity. Morgan watches the Humans and the Mewtwos coexisting for many years, but then a new Mewtwo appears. The next thing she sees is total destruction as the Mewtwos wipe out Humanity and begin the first cycle.

Desperate to see more of this time, Morgan tries to go further in, but she can feel that outside presence tugging at her again, pulling her out. She tries to fight. She wants to know more. She _needs_ to. But it’s too late; Morgan once more finds herself aware of her physical body, standing in the chamber with the Eye.

Shane looks into her eyes, a concerned look on his face. “Morgan, are you okay?” he asks.

“ _Wait!_ ” Morgan shouts. “Wha- I was about to find something out!”

“Morgan, you’ve been here for hours,” Shane tells her.

“What do you mean it’s been hours?” Morgan asks. “I can stay in here as long as I want.” She _knows_ she can control it.

“Well, we need to come up with a plan for the Mewtwos right now. The Red Suns are here.”

“I see,” Morgan tells him. “Well, I’m sure Arlon’s figured something out. He probably has some good news.”

“Uh… About that…”

Morgan sees a somber look appear on Shane’s face. “What?” she asks. “Did something happen?”

* * *

“So, what do we do now?” Luke asks. “Arlon was always the man with the plan…”

The Red Suns and the _Helix_ crew stand gathered around the holotable in the situation room trying to work out their next course of action. Adám stands a bit further back, leaning against the wall and observing.

“Well, as of right now, the only way we know how to defeat them is through a war of attrition,” Shane says.

“Well, zey ‘ave us beat zere,” Rena responds. She brings up footage of the Mewtwos destroying everything in their path. “Look ‘ow much we ‘ad to sacrifice just to kill one.”

“There must be a peaceful solution,” Morgan says. She turns her attention to Adám. “Why did you all start fighting with the Mewtwos in the first place?”

“I told you before,” Adám replies. “We did not fight them.”

“Then what happened?” Morgan asks him. “I saw it: you were living together, and then, all of a sudden, you weren’t. Everyone was _gone_. What happened?”

Adám takes a deep breath, and it looks to Morgan as if he is recalling unpleasant memories. “How much do you know?” he finally asks.

“I know the purpose of the cycle is to make more Mewtwos,” Morgan tells him. “But in the Eye I saw more Mewtwos being created while the Humans were still alive. They were coexisting. Why can’t it be like that?”

“You know that they use us to reproduce, to grow their numbers,” Adám tells her. “This was always the way of things.”

“So, when did they decide to exterminate every Human? What changed?”

“In the beginning, they created us with the intent that we would grow alongside our Pokemon partners and, when we were ready, they would ascend us.” Adám’s Pokemon floats around him as he speaks and Morgan can see the strong bond between them. “And so we lived in peace,” the ancient man continues. “And that was the way until, one day, that growth, that bond was disrupted.”

“What do you mean ‘disrupted?’” Alex asks.

“We were meant to grow and evolve alongside our Pokemon,” Adám tells the girl. “And only when we were ready would we join the Gods in the harmony of the Universe. Then, my son, Cain, overstepped his bounds. He was jealous of his partner’s power and, despite their bond, he killed his Pokemon and consumed its power for his own.”

Alex gasps in shock at this. To her, such an action is unthinkable.

“Cain ascended before it was his time,” Adám continues. “Through his transgression, the rest of Humanity was doomed. He proved that Humanity could not be trusted. The Gods decreed that Humanity posed too great a threat to the stability of the Universe, and so the harvest and the cycles began.”

“That’s not fair,” Alex responds. “Just because of one asshole, why do we all have to die?”

“Well, unfortunately, I can believe the whole ‘Humanity can’t be trusted’ thing,” Shane chimes in.

“What are you talking about?” H asks. “Of course Humanity can be trusted, for it has created _me_.”

“That’s _exactly_ what he’s talking about,” Morgan tells him. “So, what if we could find a way to work with them instead? What if we could let them choose a few Humans to live and start anew? If it means ending the cycles, I’m for it.”

“So, you’d just be saving a small amount of Humans while committing genocide against the rest of the species and that’s a _good_ thing?” H asks.

“It’s happened one-hundred-and-forty-nine times _already_ ,” Morgan tells him.

“But we have the tools to potentially stop it and you’re saying ‘no, let’s just do it.’”

“We _don’t_ have the tools.”

“You don’t know until you try.”

“As crazy as this guy is, I agree with him,” Luke says, looking over at H. “We have to try to find a way to stop them.”

“What if we find a way to kill them all at once?” Alex asks.

“Da!” Kiril exclaims. “I like the way this girl thinks.”

“We might have something here,” Petra speaks up. She brings up a map of the Galaxy on the holotable. Several sets of coordinates like up. “These are the locations of all the Mewtwo labs we know about. We must be able to find a weakness or something we can use against them at one of these sites.”

“The labs must have genetic information on these things,” Luke says. “What if we could use that to engineer some kind of virus or nanobots that specifically target them?”

“Zat is very dangerous territory,” Rena warns him. “Zose kinds of weapons are banned by ze Federation for good reason.”

“I’d gladly face being tried for war crimes if it meant saving the Galaxy,” Luke tells her.

“It would be for nothing anyway,” H chimes in. “I already thought of that, but fate, it seems, does not wish for us to take that path.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” Luke asks him. “The way I see it, this is the best path we can take.”

“But what if it goes wrong?” Alex asks. “What if we end up killing all the Pokemon in the Galaxy? I don’t want to live in a future like that. I’d rather die.”

“She does raise a good point, Luke,” Rena tells her fellow lieutenant. “Zis plan is too risky. It could kill all Pokemon, or even all Humans. We could be destroying everything we are fighting to save.”

“Alright, I get it. It’s a bad plan,” Luke concedes. “Anyone got a better idea?”

“You guys _were_ able to kill one of these things,” Shane points out.

“By throwing like fifty ships at it, and then blowing up a warp drive and a reactor at the same time in its face,” Petra tells him. “We just don’t have the resources to do that for every Mewtwo in the Galaxy. It’s not possible.”

“Maybe we can even the odds,” Shane tells her. “If we can develop some kind of warp bomb, like the one on the _Halcyon_... Arlon proved that an explosion like that can kill one of them.”

“I can agree with zat,” Rena responds. “Arlon would be proud knowing zat he died showing us a way to save the Galaxy.”

“Alright, we’ll get to work on it,” Shane announces. “But, that being said, I think we should at least _try_ to find a peaceful solution. Adám, is there any more insight you can give us? A way to show the Mewtwos that they don’t have to kill us?”

“In the eyes of the Gods, the problem with Humans is their insatiable lust for power,” Adám replies.

“Then why did they create Humans with such a lust for power?” Morgan asks him.

“It is simply the way Humans are,” Adám tells her. He seems resigned to this belief.

“I don’t see it as a lust for power,” Shane chimes in. “I see it more as a will to survive.”

Adám looks Shane in the eye, then casts his gaze over his marked hand. “Do you really need all of that to survive?” the ancient man asks.

Shane lifts his hand and the mark begins to glow. “If I didn’t have this, we wouldn’t be having this conversation right now,” he tells Adám.

Adám’s face remains stoic as he reflects silently upon Shane’s words. “I see,” he finally speaks. “But do you still need to command such power?”

“It’s saved our skin on a number of occasions, and it just might save our skin against the Mewtwos.”

“But I think that’s his point,” Alex speaks up. “It might help us, but we can’t know for sure.”

“All the more reason to keep it,” H chimes in.

“I think Adám wants us to show that we _don’t_ need it,” Alex continues. The young girl looks around the room at her branded crewmates. “He’s suggesting that you give up your superpowers, to show that our will to survive doesn’t cause us to lust after power. For me, it would be like releasing Leviathan.” She pauses and looks over at Adám and his Pokemon companion. “I look at them and I see a true bond of friendship. That’s the way I want to be with my Pokemon and, if that’s the case, I don’t need these things,” she continues, holding up some of her Pokeballs. “If my Pokemon truly are my friends, then they will stay with me even if I give up that control. The true power is being able to let go of the power we have.”

“The child shows wisdom,” Adám says of Alex’s words. “Letting go of your power may change the way the Gods view you.”

“But we don’t even know how to get rid of these powers,” Dmitri points out.

“The first step is to be willing.”

“Even if we are willing, what about everyone else?” Alex asks. “We’re just a bunch of random assholes.”

“The path of righteousness must begin with the first step,” Adám tells her. “If Humanity is truly worth saving, then others will follow.”

“Well, it’s worth a shot,” Shane says. “Maybe we can find a way to end this peacefully after all.” With that, he vanishes into warp space.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m not gonna lie, this session was extremely disappointing to me, and I think a lot of the other players felt the same. That being said, this chapter turned out amazingly. Like, this is one of the best chapters of Volume 3 in my opinion. But I would like to discuss why I didn’t like the session, since I think it’s kind of important to where the campaign went from this point.
> 
> I think the moment we acquired the Eye was the moment the volume started to go downhill. We were all really expecting it to be this super powerful Deus Ex Machina like the GM played it up too be, but… it wasn’t. At the time it felt like its sole purpose just point us to Adám, which, in all honestly, I felt was really shoehorned in there. I think scrapping Adám and focusing on the Eye would have been a better way to go as a GM. And I wasn’t really feeling the religious stuff here. Like, it’s a cool idea, but the execution just rubbed me the wrong way. I enjoyed the subtle references earlier in this campaign, but this just felt like super overtly ripped right out of real-world religious texts to the point where it just wasn’t particularly clever and really changed my view on the Mewtwos in a way I’m not really sure I like. I found them far more interesting when they were this vast, unknowable thing like the Reapers in Mass Effect instead of what we ended up getting.
> 
> On top of that, we came up with this great plan we thought would work based on precedents that had been set up throughout the campaign and when we started sharing it with the GM as we were gearing up to put it into action as characters he was basically like “that’s obvious and predictable and it will almost certainly fail, or at the very least have very harsh negative consequences that far outweigh the benefits” and made none of us even want to consider going through with it at that point. The GM said he wanted to encourage creative solutions that he might not think of, but all that really amounted to was a bunch of H-caliber plans that tend to backfire.
> 
> The GM even said at one point around the end of Volume 2 that he had no idea how we would be able to stop the Mewtwos, and then later said that he felt bad and decided to give us the Eye of Aether as a means to give us an advantage, and then added another supposed Deus Ex Machina in the form of Adám. Yet, despite all that, it felt like we were backed into a corner and had no options left to us. You know there’s a problem when the majority of players literally say they have no hope of winning, which actually happened. So that’s where the whole give up power solution came from. The GM came up with it on the spot as a reaction to our loss of hope saying he wanted to give us other options, but really it felt to us like we were forced to take this path.
> 
> Well, now that that’s out of the way, looking back at this chapter now that I’ve written it, I’m very happy with how it turned out and it really shows the story we ended up telling in a much better way than how it felt at the time in-game. So now that I’ve aired my grievances, I’ll do what I normally do in this section and note some cool moments from the session and break down certain scenes.
> 
> As touched upon at the end of the last chapter, Alex’s Chandelure had consequences for failing that check so spectacularly in the form of losing her fire-type. While I admit I’m still slightly salty about that, I think it was a cool narrative thing for Alex where she’s trying to help, but in the process causes harm to her own Pokemon. If we had had the time, I would have seriously derailed the campaign to fix the Chandelure because that’s just what Alex would do.
> 
> And then we have that fun little scene with the Federation. I actually reused the same characters from the last time the party went and did crazy stuff in Sector 25 because it just fit so perfectly with how the GM described the moment. It was actually really fun to write.
> 
> But the real amazing scene to write was the big planning scene. This is where the chapter truly shines I feel. I took like an hour to an hour-and-a-half of us planning and discussing as players, and grumbling about our original plan falling through, and getting into disagreements with the GM interspersed with little bursts of RP into this fantastic piece of storytelling. It was actually very hard to write as I had to juggle so many different bits around to make it all fit perfectly, but I love the way it turned out. It shows the crew working as this cohesive unit to come up with a plan, it gives the Red Suns some interesting lines, it shows some characters changing their perspectives and being willing to change, and it really demonstrates Alex’s character shift. That little monologue thing she had at the end of the chapter is one of the most profound things she’s ever said in her life. And then it all wraps up with the crew making a decision on the path they want to take going into endgame.


	81. Volume 3, Chapter 14: Redemption

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Helix crew prepares a plan to deal with the threat to the Galaxy.

Shane falls freely through the depths of warp space. Deeper and deeper he sinks, all the way back to the Void. The massive form of Giratina envelopes him as he arrives. The Pokemon gazes at him with a menacing, yet incredibly innocent and expectant look in its eyes.

“I don’t even know what I’m doing here…” Shane mutters. He looks at Giratina and thinks of what to do next. “Thank you,” he tells the Pokemon. “For all of the help you’ve given me. I know there have been at least a dozen when my friends and I would have been dead without your help… And, I know that I’m talking to something that doesn’t understand what I’m saying, but still… I feel it needs to be said.”

Shane looks around at the blackness that is the Void as Giratina playfully flies around him. “I spent so long inside a cramped black space,” he says to the Pokemon. “And here you are just making it look like the best thing in the Universe… I admire that.” Shane sighs. “I’m not really sure how to say this…” Shane lifts his marked hand up to Giratina. “You can take this back if you want, but, if you do, please take me back to the _Helix_.”

Shane reaches out with his marked hand and places it on Giratina. He focuses on the Pokemon and thinks of the way Adám had bonded with his own Pokemon. He tries to replicate that connection, and he feels Giratina’s presence touching his mind. Shane wills his power away and he can feel Giratina re-absorb it.

Through the bond he now shares with Giratina, Shane asks it to take him back to the _Helix_ , and he soon finds himself standing in the situation room, surrounded by his friends. He feels the connection with Giratina fade away, leaving behind pleasant feelings.

“What happened?” Alex asks.

“I took Adám’s advice,” Shane answers as he lifts up his marked arm. The swirling patterns of purple along his arm slowly turn to gold. They shatter into a brilliant glowing dust and drift away, leaving Shane’s skin as it once was, completely free of any scarring.

“Woah,” Alex gasps.

A faint smile appears on Adám’s face, then he turns and walks out of the room. H glares angrily at the man’s back as he leaves, then he too departs.

* * *

“Ugh, why do fire stones have to be so expensive?” Alex grumbles as she lies on her bed, sprawled out on stomach and scrolling through countless Spacenet pages on her Pokedex. The girl kicks the bed frame in frustration. “I can only afford like five of them… I need like a thousand if I’m gonna fix Lumiera.”

“Hey, it’ll be okay,” Naomi says. She comfortingly places a hand on Alex’s back. “We’ll find a way.”

“But we can’t do _anything_ without money,” Alex whines.

“That’s not true. There’s got to be another way, one that doesn’t require us to spend thirty-thousand credits. There must be a better thing to use than fire stones, Something that will fix Lumiera in one shot. You know, quality over quantity.” 

“Yeah, right… this is hopeless.”

“You never know until you try,” Naomi tells her as she begins to type away furiously on the holographically projected keyboard of her top-of-the-line Pokedex.

Alex, however, doesn’t share her optimism. She climbs off the bed and starts heading for the door.

“Hey, where are you going?” Naomi asks.

“I… I just need to clear my head,” Alex tells her.

Naomi looks across the room and gives Alex a warm smile. “Okay,” she says. “I’ll keep looking and I’ll show you what I find when you get back.”

* * *

Alex roams the halls of the _Helix_ , contemplating the events of the past few days. It was all so much to take in and she had more questions than ever. It’s not long before she finds herself standing outside Shane’s old room, which the crew had provided to Adám. The truth of the man’s identity has finally sunk in. If anyone has the answers she seeks, it’s him.

She touches the console, and the door slides open. Adám sits cross-legged on the floor in the center of the room, meditating while his Pokemon companion floats around his head. Hearing the girl enter the room, the ancient man opens his eyes and looks up at her.

“Hello, child.”

“Uh… hi,” Alex says timidly. She stands there awkwardly for several moments, unsure where to begin.

“Yes?” Adám asks expectantly.

“Well, I… um… well, you… you’re _real_ ,” the girl manages to get out.

“Reality is only as we see it to be.”

“No, I mean I thought you were just a story,” Alex tells him. “Something the monks made up.” She sits down across from Adám in the same cross-legged position and begins rummaging through her bag.

Adám looks on curiously as the girl pulls an old book from her bag and begins turning through its pages. Her menor, Raj, had given it to her when she was living in the Ninauli Monastery back on Vandia. It’s an old copy of the Sinai Bible from when the monastery still kept physical records, one of many the place had no more use for. Raj had told her that it was a version for children from a couple hundred years ago. Alex always liked it because it had pretty pictures.

“You’re the man in the story,” Alex finally says, having found the page she was looking for. “You’re _the_ Adám.” She turns the book around and shows Adám a picture of a man in a garden accompanied by an ambiguous looking figure that looks sort of like a Pokemon. “And that means… this must be Eve?”

As Alex looks over to Adám’s Pokemon, the pink creature floats over to her. It gives her a curious glance with its adorable blue eyes.

“You are right,” the ancient man tells her.

“May I?” Alex asks, reaching her hand up.

Adám nods.

The girl’s heart warms as she strokes the top of the Pokemon’s head. The cute critter slowly rotates upside-down as Alex scratches its head, so the girl moves her hand down its back, just before it floats away, back to Adám.

“I never really believed most of them,” Alex says as she returns her focus to Adám and sees him flipping through the pages of the book. “The stories, I mean. I really tried to, but ever since I’ve been on this ship… the things I’ve learned… They made it seem like it was all just lies. But, at the same time, I believe them more now than ever before. I was hoping you could show me the truth.”

“Very well,” Adám tells her. “What would you like to know?”

“The Bible says that Cain had a brother named Abel, that you had another son, I guess. It says that Cain was jealous of the gifts God gave to Abel, so he killed him. But you said it was his own Pokemon partner that he killed.”

“In a sense, what your Bible says is true; my son was indeed jealous of Abel’s gifts, but they were partners, not brothers.”

“So that means that Abel was a Pokemon like Eve?”

“Indeed.”

“How could he do such a thing to his own Pokemon?” Alex asks. The very thought of it pains her. “Why?”

“Jealousy? Fear? I cannot say. The only thing I know for sure is... that was the day I lost my son.”

“I’m sorry,” Alex tells him. She reflects back on her own life, her own misfortunes. “I lost someone too…”

Adám reaches out and places a hand on the girl’s forehead. To Alex, it feels as if he is peering into her soul.

“You have seen much suffering,” the man tells her as he retracts his hand. “You have my condolences.”

“There’s something I’ve been wondering about for a while.” Alex thinks back to the conversations she used to have with Raj. “No one has been able to give me an answer, but… maybe you can help. Why do bad things always happen to good people?”

“There was a time when that was not the case. In my time, bad things did not happen to good people, but that was before Cain.”

“What changed?” Alex asks.

“I do not know,” Adám tells her. “After that, I wanted nothing more to do with this Universe. I could not bear the pain. Not even the offer of ascension could change that.”

“You mean they wanted you to become a Mewtwo?”

“Yes. I was the first one they offered a chance to become a… _Mewtwo_ , as you say. However, I did not feel I was ready. After Cain ascended prematurely, they made the offer again, this time so that I might help them deal with him. That is when I decided that I never wanted that power. I saw what it did to my son.” Adám pauses to reflect for a moment. “Eternal slumber was the path I chose instead.”

“When my pain was too strong, I tried to…” Alex trails off as she recalls her numerous suicide attempts. “I wanted to end my own life. I’m sorry for asking, but... why didn’t you?”

“I did not wish to become one with Death,” Adám replies. “After Cain, I wanted nothing more to do with death, so I decided that I would rest through the ages.” He pauses for a moment and gazes out the viewport. “This Universe has changed much since then. When first I was awakened, I felt it; where it was once whole, the Universe felt darker, incomplete.”

“Is there a way we can make it like it was?” Alex asks. “If we could make peace with the Mewtwos, would this Universe be whole again? Could we end all this senseless suffering?”

“I fear the wound runs even deeper than that.”

Adám falls silent, leaving Alex to contemplate his words.

“So, what happened to Cain anyway?” the girl finally asks.

“I do not know what became of my son. I never wanted to speak or hear of him again.”

“I don’t know if it means anything to you, but the Bible says that God punished Cain for his transgression,” Alex tells the ancient man. “It says that he was cursed to roam the stars for eternity.”

“I… I see...”

“Oh. Well, uh, thanks for speaking with me,” Alex says as she stands up. “You’ve been very helpful.”

“And, likewise, I have learned much from you. For one so young, you are very wise.”

“Thank you, Adám.” Alex bows, then slips out of the room, leaving Adám to return to his meditations.

* * *

Down in the warp lab, Shane busies himself working on a new project. Adám’s words had made Shane think long and hard about his abilities. He realized that it was quite possible that the use of his abilities, both those granted by Giratina and those resulting from him being a glitch in reality, damages the fabric of the Universe. While he has given up his influence over Space, he seeks to use the knowledge he gained while he had them to create a mechanical glove that allows him use the Warp.

Pulling parts from warp drives he removed from the station, Shane attempts to create a prototype that functions in the most Universe-friendly way possible. His ultimate goal is for it to at least allow him to do the same things he is currently capable of as a reality glitch, but using the Warp to avoid the risk of glitching the Universe further.

As he tinkers away, Shane hears the door slide open. He looks up to see Morgan walking into the room. “Hey, Morgan,” he greets her. “Need something?”

“I wanted to ask you something,” the young woman replies.

“Sure, what is it?”

“Well… I was wondering, how did you, um, get rid of your powers? Whatever abilities the Eye gave to me… I want to give them back.”

“I don’t really know. I guess I did the same thing we’ve been seeing Adám do,” Shane explains. “I went to Giratina and we sort of just… bonded. I felt connected to it and I asked it to take the powers back, and it did. Maybe you can do the same with the Eye?”

“It can’t hurt to try,” Morgan replies. “Would you mind coming with me? I don’t want to get lost in the Eye again.”

“Yeah, sure,” Shane tells her. “I need to ask it something anyway.”

The two exit the warp lab and take the elevator up to the upper deck. As they walk toward the airlock, they run into Adám who appears to be headed in the same direction. He turns to look at Shane and Morgan.

“There is something I should have done a long time ago: I wish to consult the Eye,” he says as he approaches. “After all this time it is… quite a coincidence that you have come to possess it. Would you mind guiding me to it?”

“Uh, sure,” Shane replies. “We were just heading there anyway— it’s just over here.”

* * *

The Eye of Aether towers above as the trio enters its chamber. They feel almost as if they are being watched. Shane and Morgan approach the spherical artifact while Adám hangs back and observes. Shane reaches out to the Eye and attempts to channel it with his newfound abilities. He can sense a presence within, but he can’t quite connect with it.

“This isn’t just a sphere,” Shane tells Morgan. “There’s something inside it. Something like Giratina. But, as for how you going about getting rid of the power it gave you, I’m not really sure what to do.”

“I’m sure I’ll figure something out,” Morgan replies. She takes a step toward the Eye and reaches out for it.

“Are you sure you’ll be alright?” Shane asks, placing a hand on her shoulder.

“I’ll be fine,” she answers. “I won’t let it consume me like last time.”

“Well, I’ll be right here if you need me.”

Morgan turns back to the Eye and places a hand on it, this time focusing on the being contained inside. She sees all of Time sprawling before her and once more feels the strong urge to get lost in it. However, this time, she resists and keeps herself focuses on the being within.

With all her might, Morgan tries to will her powers away. She doesn’t want to have them. She _needs_ to not have them. She feels a bit sad to lose her recently acquired gifts, but, at the same time, she fears what they did to her. More than anything else, she wants to reconcile with the Mewtwos and feels like she can't do that with these powers, so she has resolved to give them up.

Knowing that what Shane managed to do works, she tries and tries, but it’s difficult. Morgan is unsure if she is just not powerful enough to commune with the entity inside the Eye, or if the sphere is somehow interfering, but, whatever the reason, she is unable to relinquish control of her powers. She racks her brain for another solution, but nothing comes to mind. _I just won’t use them_ , she decides.

Morgan can feel the hunger for the knowledge of Time fade away as she resolves herself. She removes her hand and steps back from the Eye.

“Did it work?” Shane asks.

“No,” Morgan tells him. “But I’ve decided that I just won’t use the powers it gave me. I’m going to head back to the ship now.”

“Alright,” Shane responds. “I’ll meet you back there.”

As Morgan departs, Shane walks up to the Eye and attempts to channel its aura once more. This time, he feels a connection form; he can sense a powerful presence very different from Giratina. It feels almost incomprehensible, alien to his mind. All Shane can feel is what he can only describe as a low rumbling. He realizes that he is simply interacting with the subconscious of a slumbering being, as if the outer shell that is the Eye separates out the emotions, directing the entity’s control of Time while keeping it subdued.

While this knowledge is fascinating, Shane shoves it aside for the moment and focuses on what he came here for: research on the Warp from other cycles. Bits of code, and technology flash before him, and he is able to infer what he needs to do to power his prototype. Curious, Shane delves deeper into history’s collective knowledge on the Warp. He sees cycles where the Warp is studied entirely from a scientific perspective, others where the worship of the Warp is the cornerstone of Galactic society, and others much like this one where the Warp is viewed in a scientific and religious light. The thing that stands out to Shane the most is a schematic for some sort of warp bomb. Similar versions existed in other cycles, but the core implementation remained the same, and the resulting blast was… effective. He latches onto it, realizing it may be the solution to fighting the Mewtwos they need.

Satisfied, Shane severs the connection with the Eye. As he steps back from the sphere, he notices Adám approaching it. The ancient man reaches out and channels it in the same way that Shane had just moments before.

Shane watches as a grim, almost disturbed expression appears on Adám’s face. Adám lowers his arm and stumbles back, away from the Eye.

“What did you see?” Shane asks. In the brief time he had known the man, Shane got the sense that it took a lot to rattle him.

“I saw how the wound in the Universe came to be,” Adám answers.

“The wound in the Universe?” Shane asks, unsure of what he means.

“The darkness that was not present in my time, but now fills this Universe. The damage that was inflicted upon it by Cain. The Gods were right to leave those events lost to time.”

“Can you show me?”

“No. No one else should have to bear witness to what I have seen.”

“Did you at least learn what became of your son?”

Adám turns and walks toward the exit, his Pokemon companion floating along behind him. He pauses as he reaches the door, and ponders for a long moment.

“He no longer knows Life as we do.”

* * *

“I think I may have found a way to fight the Mewtwos,” Shane announces to those gathered on the _Helix_ ’s bridge.

“Zat is great news,” Rena replies. “What is it?”

“I looked into the Eye and I saw a way to create a warp bomb,” Shane explains. “One that functions similarly to what Arlon did. If we can get the Federation to fund its development, we can deploy it against the Mewtwos on a large scale.”

“How, exactly, do you plan on doing that?” Morgan asks.

“When I talked to Graves earlier, she mentioned something about a war council. I managed to catch where they were headed. I thought we’d call her up and let her know we’re coming.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Rena tells him. “We will stay 'ere and protect ze station. Good luck.” With that, the Parisian departs from the ship, leaving the crew to contact the Admiral.

Shane immediately sends out a call, which is promptly answered by Graves. “Hello again,” she greets the crew. “Do you have any news to report? Any updates? The fronts are looking real bad. If you any good news now would be the time.”

“Based on the information we have regarding the defeat of the previous Mewtwo, we’re making a weapon that operates fairly similarly to the way Arlon took it down,” Shane tells her. “While one of these bombs probably won’t take out a Mewtwo at full power, it will definitely destroy a weakened one.”

“That’s what I like to hear,” the admiral replies. “I expect you to give a full presentation before the council.”

“Well, alright,” Shane responds. “It’s just a concept at the moment, but I should hopefully have some sort of prototype ready by the time we arrive.”

“I look forward to your report when you meet up with the fleet in the Genesis Core System. I’m sending you the coordinates now.”

“I thought that with it being the capital system of the Federation, the ‘Core’ part would be implied.”

“You wouldn’t believe how naive some of the recruits can get,” Graves says, reservedly. “We had to make it _un-implied_ to save the logistics team a lot of trouble.”

Once Graves hangs up, Shane turns to Minerva and nods.

“Oh, you’re actually gonna let me do my job for once?” the pilot quips.

Shane just points to his arm where the brand used to be and shrugs.

* * *

Alex sits on the floor of the _Helix_ ’s engine room, leaned up against the wall, watching the droning machinery and contemplating what Adám shared with her and her own words. _Is that really what I have to do?_ she asks herself. _I don’t know if I can…_

“There you are,” Naomi’s voice speaks, pulling Alex out of her thoughts. “I’ve been looking all over for you. What are you doing hiding in here alone?” Alex looks up to see her love standing in front of her.

“I just want to be alone for a while,” Alex answers, bowing her head.

“Is something wrong?” Naomi crouches down and places her hand on Alex’s. “I told you that you can talk to me about anything.”

“I know… it’s just… I don’t know… I was thinking about what Adám said and I just don’t know if I can do it. I don’t know if I can do any of this. I… I just want to help everyone, but I keep fucking it up. I couldn’t save my dad and I can’t even protect my own Pokemon. I feel like such a failure.”

Naomi stands up and pulls Alex to her feet. “You are _not_ a failure,” she says as wraps her arms around Alex and pulls her into a hug.

“I don’t deserve you,” Alex says faintly. “I don’t even know how you could love someone like me, but I promise you I will do everything I can to earn that love. I promise you.”

“But you already _have_. Alex…. you’re _amazing_ , more amazing than I could _ever_ hope to be. I’m the one who doesn’t deserve _you_. You are the kindest, sweetest, most caring person I’ve ever met and… and you’ve saved my life _twice_ now and you’re fighting to save the whole _freaking_ Galaxy. If there’s anyone who deserves to be loved, it’s you. Every bit of love I have to give… it’s yours.”

“I don’t know what I’d do without you,” Alex responds. She hugs Naomi as tightly as she can.

“Well, I’m never leaving you again,” Naomi tells her. “No matter what.”

“But what if…?” _No. That won’t happen. I won’t let it._ Alex tightly grasps Naomi’s hand and leads her toward the exit. She knows what she has to do. “C’mon, I need to give you something.”

Alex brings Naomi back to the room they now share, and begins digging through a box next to her work table until she finds what she’s looking for. “These are for you,” Alex says to Naomi, holding out five Pokeballs, each containing one of her Pokemon. “I know you only have one Pokemon, so I’m entrusting you with their care.”

“Wow, I don’t know what to say,” Naomi responds, sounding quite surprised. She knows how attached to her Pokemon Alex can be, so she understands how big of a gesture she is making.

“You don’t need to say anything,” Alex tells her. “I care about you and these Pokemon can protect you, and you can look after them for me. I have so many that it’s hard to take care of all of them sometimes.”

“I understand,” Naomi says as she takes the Pokeballs out of Alex’s hands. She releases all her new Pokemon from their balls so she can see them. “What are their names?”

“This is Sparkles, and Smugleaf, and Kachina,” Alex answers, pointing at her Chinchou, Snivy, and Natu, respectively. “And these two I just got recently and don’t have names yet,” she continues, looking over at her Magmar and Cryogonal. “You can name them whatever you like.”

“Thank you, Alex. I promise I’ll take good care of them.” She recalls her new Pokemon, then hooks their Pokeballs on the strap of her bag next to the one containing her Liepard. “Now, I have something for you.”

“Really?” Alex asks, sounding a bit surprised.

“I found something,” Naomi tells her. She pulls out her Pokedex, and activates the holographic display.

“What is it?” Alex asks as she examines the image.

“Something called an elemental plate,” Naomi explains. “They’re supposedly super powerful artifacts that can be found in ruins in Sinai space. A fire plate sounds like a fire stone on steroids. Do you think it could fix Lumiera?”

“It might… But where are we ever gonna find something like that?”

“I dunno. Like in a fire temple or something?”

“What the hell is a fire temple?”

“Don’t ask me. I just read it on the Spacenet. There’s not a whole lot of information out there, but, whatever it is, we’ll find it.” Naomi grabs hold of Alex’s hands. “I’ll go with you to the very edges of the Galaxy to help  you find it.”

“You’re the best,” Alex tells her. She leans in and plants a kiss on Naomi’s cheek. “I can’t thank you enough.”

* * *

Shane slaves away on the Warp bomb in one of the rear rooms of the _Helix_. He had managed to compact the bomb in the schematics so it would be easier to manufacture and use, especially for a prototype. In theory, everything would work.

He leans against the wall and looks out into warp space. Shane had forgotten how long space travel took when he wasn’t just changing the ship’s relative position in space. He made a mental note to upgrade the _Helix_ to be capable of free-warp, since they may have trouble getting through gates in the future. After all, _I_ had done it, and it would be easy to replicate it using his research. In theory, everything would work.

“God, this is never going to work,” Shane yells as he continues fiddling with the prototype. He knew exactly how it _should_ work, but, in practice, actually building the damn thing was much harder than he had anticipated. Kiril would know what to do. Somewhat. After all, this is similar to the bomb they had found at the conference, is it not? _If it was that hard to understand back then, how will I ever be able to complete it?  
_  
Fortunately, warp travel takes a very long time.

* * *

Alex hunches over her worktable working on a new Pokeball prototype. Everything she had learned over the past few days had drastically changed her understanding of the Universe, of herself, of her Pokemon. She now realizes that Pokeballs as they are now prevent her from being the person she wants to be, from having the bond that she seeks with her Pokemon.

She now seeks to make a new kind of Pokeball, one that doesn’t exert any sort of controlling influence, one that allows the Pokemon contained within to leave at any time. It will serve only as a means of transporting Pokemon, and as a powerful tool in combat for a trainer such as herself. For hours, Alex slaves over her new design. She tears Pokeballs apart and puts them back together until she finally figures out how to make one function without the control elements.

_Now, for the moment of truth_ , the girl thinks as she stands up. She places her new creation on the table, then reaches for the Pokeball containing her Umbreon. Alex removes the custom casing she had placed on it, then she releases the Umbreon permanently.

Alex grabs her new Pokeball off the table and crouches down in front of her Pokemon who looks up at her curiously. “Hey, Ebony,” she says as she strokes the Umbreon’s soft fur. Ebony happily rubs herself against the girl’s leg.

“We’ve been together for as long as I can remember,” Alex tells her Pokemon. “But now we can truly be partners. We’ll show everyone how strong our bond is.” She holds out her new Pokeball. “This is your new home, Ebony. It won’t be like that old Pokeball.” The Umbreon places her paw on the button, and the balls pulls her in without a struggle. Alex immediately sends Ebony back out, then scoops her up into her arms. The Umbreon purrs softly as her trainer hugs her against herself.

Exhausted from working on her new Pokeball, Alex climbs into bed with Ebony and snuggles up against Naomi, who had fallen asleep several hours before. Alex drifts off to sleep filled with happy thoughts.

* * *

The _Helix_ drops out of warp space in the Genesis Core System in Sector 1, the capital system of the Federation. Minerva flies the ship to the large, ringed gas giant Kaploy in the far reaches of the system, the seat of Federation military might. Countless bases, shipyards, and other installations are spread across the planet’s many moons. The space around Kaploy is surrounded by many dreadnoughts and the fleets they command. The heads of the Grand Navy of the Federation have gathered to plan against the threat of the Mewtwos.

As the _Helix_ approaches, the ship is hailed by the _FNS Halberd_ , Admiral Graves’s ship. Morgan accepts the call, and an officer appears on the viewscreen. “Greetings,” the young man addresses the crew. “We’ve been expecting you.”

“Where’s Graves?” Morgan asks.

“The admiral is already at the meeting with the Council,” the officer informs her. “She requested that you be escorted to the council chamber.”

“Got it,” Shane replies. “Where should we dock?”

“Hang on,” the officer tells him. “Requesting docking instructions from Alpha Station now.” The officer puts the _Helix_ on hold for a moment, but returns shortly with the instructions. “Alright, proceed to docking bay 45b at Alpha Station on the ninth moon.”

Once the man’s image vanishes from the screen, Minerva steers the ship toward Kaploy IX, the golden-brown gas giant’s largest moon. The pilot brings the _Helix_ in, then docks with the docking tube as instructed as the crew prepares to depart.

“Have fun,” Minerva says as they leave the bridge.

As the crew makes their way to the airlock, Alex suddenly stops in her tracks. “Hold on a minute,” she tells her crewmates.

“What is it, Alex?” Morgan asks, turning back to face the girl.

Alex looks around at the faces of her crewmates. “Before we go… I just wanted to thank you guys for taking me with you… For helping me find my dad… I know things didn’t turn out the way I wanted, but… I will always be grateful for everything you’ve done for me.”

“Oh, um… well, you’re welcome,” Morgan tells her. “We were happy to help.”

“I haven’t done enough to repay you for it,” Alex continues. “I… I’ve been selfish and reckless and _stupid_ and I put you all in danger… and I really haven’t done anything to earn my keep on this ship.”

“That’s not true,” Morgan replies. “You’ve helped us out plenty of times.”

“No matter how this ends,” Shane says as he places a hand on Alex’s shoulder. “You did good.”

* * *

After the crew disembarks from the _Helix_ , a group of Federation marines escorts them to the council chamber. Eventually, they arrive at a door and are shown into a vast open room. A huge circular table with a hologram projector at its center sits in the middle of the room. Seated around this table are all the leading admirals of the Grand Navy of the Federation. Each has a small group of advisory officers standing behind them.

Beyond the round table sits a large, raised platform where the Federation War Council is seated. There are two lower sections on either side, each with three admirals. In the raised center sits who Morgan recognizes as Grand Admiral David White, head of the entire navy. Underneath his elegant hat, his well-kempt white hair emerges and connects with a stylish and trimmed beard. A large scar slices across his left eye, covered over with a cyber-eyepatch. He takes a puff from his platinum, ruby-tipped, nuclear-powered cigar as he listens to the admirals at the round table speak. Alex’s eyes immediately light up when she recognizes the cigar from a movie she saw one time.

“Very well, we shall proceed with this project,” White speaks in a gruff, metallic voice emanating from his cybernetic voicebox. “However, we must continue to search for additional solutions.”

As the crew moves further into the room, they see Admiral Graves seated at the round table on the side relatively close to the council bench. When the admiral spots them, she motions them over to her. A faint murmur spreads across the table as they approach.

“This is the crew of the vessel known as the _UAS Helix_ ,” Graves introduces them to the table. “They were there for the Battle of Solace Prime, the Galactic Governance Conference, the first Mewtwo incident, and the destruction of Harmonia.”

The Council examines the crew, judging them as murmurs erupt from the round table. By this point, news of the crew’s antics over the past few months had spread, now resulting in a wide range of reactions. Some seem intrigued and some suspicious. Others simply seem unimpressed, including one Douglas Haverson. Morgan clearly recognizes the admiral who had boarded the _Dunsparce_ after the ship returned from Earth. She muses that the man must have gotten a promotion from rear admiral to even have a seat here.

“These brave individuals have more experience with the Mewtwos than anyone here,” Graves concludes. She motions toward the crew and everyone in the room focuses their eyes on them.

Shane steps a little closer and begins to speak. “Using the resources that we have, we’ve developed a prototype for a weapon that, while it won’t destroy a Mewtwo in one hit, it will certainly defeat a weakened one, as was demonstrated by our friend Arlon Jett of the Red Suns.”

Shane projects a hologram from his glove into the center of the round table which details the specifications for the bomb and the fabricator in the middle of the table. As Shane explains the technical details, the admirals turn to their technicians, who are vigorously taking notes.

“That being said,” Shane continues. “This is not the entirety of the solution, this is only the end step.”

“How many of these weapons can you produce?” one of the admirals on the council asks. She looks at Shane with a stern expression. “How many do you have already?”

“With the resources that we had, and the small amount of time available to us en route to this meeting, we have one working prototype,” Shane answers. _Working? I barely finished it, it hasn’t even been tested yet._ “We have the schematics to produce more should you choose to install them on your own ships.”

The sound of murmuring slowly grows as the admirals at the round table discuss what to do with Shane’s prototype. It’s hard for the crew to make out what most people are saying, but they can catch a few words here and there. It sounds like no one is really agreeing on a solution.

“We have a lot of old Bandolier class destroyers that are not currently in use,” Haverson speaks over the hushed tones, commanding the attention of his fellow admirals. “They can be retrofitted with these weapons without pulling our fleets away from the front.” Another wave of murmurs spreads across the room as the admirals assess the strengths and weaknesses of the ship and the tactical situation.

“You imbeciles!” H suddenly blurts out. “You horribly incompetent _fools!_ How could you?!” His lab coat swishes behind him as he turns and storms away. His crewmates look on with confused and surprised expressions as he exits the room.

“What’s the meaning of this?” Graves barks at the remaining _Helix_ crewmembers.

“Despite the fact that we’ve been all over the Galaxy, doing these incredible things, which we, honestly, could not have done without him, he’s…” Shane pauses his explanation as he searches for the right word. “ _Special_ … in a lot of ways.”

As Graves sends for some men to detain H, a few of the advisors and some of the younger admirals fight to stifle laughter and are met with stern looks. The whole situation feels incredibly awkward.

“The weapon specifications, as provided,” Shane says, motioning toward the hologram in the center of the table, attempting to get the discussion back on track.

“Very well,” Grand Admiral White’s metallic voice rumbles, quickly silencing any murmurs. “Project approved.” He takes a puff from his cigar. “You all have fought the Mewtwos firsthand,” he continues, looking directly at the _Helix_ crew. “What is your assessment of the situation?”

“Even with this weapon, victory is a longshot,” Shane answers. “It will be a very hard battle, if we do somehow survive.”

“You survived before,” White replies. “So perhaps you will give us the edge we need. Where would you suggest we make our final stand?”

“I’m not sure how feasible this will be, but I think it would be poetic if this ended where it began.” Shane projects a hologram with a set of coordinates and a rotating image of Earth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one took a long time to write. It was only like the last hour or so of the session and it was really all just RP, but for some reason it was just challenging to write. Maybe because there were a lot of added scenes and a lot of parts where there was just loose description.
> 
> Let’s break it down, since this was another chapter I really liked. First we have the scene where Shane gives up his brand. This was hinted at in the previous chapter, but it actually happened here. The GM felt very proud of himself for making a player willingly give up a brand, but I think we felt like we had little choice, given the discussion from last chapter. However, Shane got to replace those powers with the Channeler class, which is one of the classes Adám has. So close to the end of the campaign, it didn’t make much difference but it was very cool from a narrative perspective I thought.
> 
> The next scene was something I whipped up real quick to put a little bit of dialogue into a very brief description of Alex looking into fixing her Chandelure. I ended up splitting it and putting some at the end of a different scene once the GM suggested the exchange between Alex and Adám. That was a scene that did not happen in game, but we added as a direct result of the big discussion in the comments of the previous chapter. We wanted to add a bit of mystery for the sake of the readers that we didn’t really get to experience as players. I actually really like how it turned out and it gave both Alex and Adám some really awesome character development.
> 
> That fed into the next scene with the Eye. It was originally just Shane and Morgan, but we inserted Adám to build up that mystery. What did he see?! I don’t even know. As for the rest of that scene Morgan was trying to get rid of her powers, but her player didn’t make the right rolls to figure it out. I actually don’t remember because the session was so long ago at this point and I finished the chapter well after I finished listening to the recording and outlining the chapter.
> 
> Then there was Alex’s big scene. I had been planning it for a while, and once Adám happened the story fed really nicely into it. It was really just a blip in the session but I wanted to really make it matter. Alex actually gave up some of her Pokemon. That’s a really big thing for her. And then at the end is the leftovers from the previous Alex and Naomi scene. The GM provided info on fire plates in fire temples, but given the point we were at in the campaign, there was no way to fit in going there. If it had happened earlier, I would’ve derailed the campaign to go there! Well, it’s just the next stop for Alex once she and her friends save the Galaxy!
> 
> Then we have the war council. The GM came up with this over the top Grand Admiral character that he just had to use. He put a stupid amount of thought into a cigar of all things. Lot’s of fun RP there. Pitching a plan, H doing something that we had no idea about, and an epic closing line that is actually a really dumb idea.


	82. Volume 3, Chapter 15: Paramour

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Love is in the air as the Helix makes what might be its final jump.

Hushed whispers and murmurs fill the air as the admirals and their advisors watch the spinning hologram. “What, exactly, am I looking at here?” Grand Admiral White asks Shane as he eyes the projection curiously.

“The origin planet,” Shane answers. “ _Earth_.”

The excited and surprised murmurs at the round table grow in volume. The faces of the admirals on the council remain stern.

“Well, that’s a stupid idea,” Alex blurts out.

“Why?” Shane asks. “It’s out of the way to avoid civilian casualties, it’s a fitting place to make our stand, and… there’s no gate to get there… You’re right. On second thought, let’s _not_ do that.”

“Now, if you have any serious suggestions,” White replies.

“Well, there is one other logical place I can think of,” Shane tells him. “It’s by the gate in Sector 25.”

“Explain.”

“We have a sort of base that we’ve _acquired_ there. It’s remote, so we can avoid civilian casualties, but it’s still accessible via warp gate so we won’t be leaving the rest of the Galaxy defenseless. Finally, it also contains a very legendary artifact known as the Eye of Aether. According to legend, this artifact is said to solve any riddle, heal any wound, predict the future, and reveal the past. If you haven’t guessed by now, it controls Time.”

The council deliberates amongst themselves for a time, but eventually one of them speaks up. “You say this will not leave the Galaxy defenseless, but concentrating the vast majority of our forces in the Outer Rim does just that.”

“But, if it’s true that they have this Eye, that’s probably sufficient enough to draw the Mewtwos in,” an admiral on the opposite side of the bench counters. “Provided that we can successfully bait them with it.”

“I would definitely agree with that,” Shane chimes in. “Over the course of our travels, we’ve encountered a number of God-like entities, basic forces of the Universe. This is one of them. We can use its properties to automate the production of the warp bombs much faster than we could otherwise. We don’t know how much time we have, but this will give us more of it.” 

“In that case, this greatly limits the locations where we can fight,” White concludes. “The Mewtwos will come for the Eye, and we need it in a location where we can produce these weapons.”

“I believe I have just the place in mind,” Shane says, with a slight grin.

* * *

“Your plan is bullshit, just like the last one,” White scoffs.

“How so?” Morgan asks.

“While I certainly agree that it would be hilarious to have the battle in Romanov territory, and make those bastards take all the damage, there’s no way they would agree to that,” the Grand Admiral explains. He then leans back in his chair, and takes a puff from his incredibly expensive cigar. “Especially when it’s us asking.”

“You could send us,” Dmitri suggests. “We, as a neutral third party, can negotiate with the Supremacy on behalf of the Federation. Plus I’m also Romanov, if that would help.”

“With all due respect,” one of the lesser Admirals replies, “I doubt the Supremacy would take too kindly to a member of the former Union.”

“Still, it’s better than nothing,” White says. 

“If we’re going to use the Eye to produce these bombs, we’re going to need a factory, preferably close to the action,” one of the other admirals responds.

“Most certainly,” White agrees. He presses a few buttons and a map of Romanov space springs up on the holotable with several sets of coordinates. “These are all the old Union facilities that we’re familiar with. Surely we can find one that works."

“We don’t know if any of them still exist,” another admiral points out. “It’s quite possible that the Supremacy decommissioned them in favor of their own facilities. We know for a fact that their tech is vastly superior to what the Union was capable of.”

“This is true,” White comments. “We need more information. We can’t make an informed decision until we can negotiate with the Romanovs.”

“Well, then enough with this bullshit,” Alex interrupts. “Who’s in charge of the Supremacy and how can we talk to them to make this happen?”

“Ah, right to the point I see,” White comments. “You’ve got spunk, kid. I like that.” The Grand Admiral presses a few buttons, and the image of the Romanov capital world springs into view. “At this point, the Supremacy has conquered Mir Zimoy and established their capital there. That’s where you’ll find their leader.”

“And his name is...?” Alex asks impatiently.

“Ivan Cenov. Supreme Admiral Ivan Cenov.”

“I see,” Shane comments. “Well then, we’ll head for Romanov space and try to set up a meeting with him.” He pauses for a moment, thinking things over. “Before we leave, though, I should probably mention that there’s another issue that we might face,” he finally says. “We’ve been following a certain individual who calls himself ‘I’. He’s another of Armstrong’s clones— like H, who just left.”

“You mean that weird guy?” one of the admirals at the round table asks.

“Yes,” Shane answers.

“There’s another one of them,” Dmitri adds.

“Except worse,” Alex finishes.

“Speaking of which,” Graves speaks up. “I’ve just received word that your friend knocked out the men we sent after him.”

“Goddamn it!” Shane shouts. He then lets out a disgruntled sigh and runs for the door.

“We’ll be back,” Morgan informs the admirals. “We really need to deal with this.” She too turns and heads after Shane.

“I should, uh, probably go help them,” Alex says, turning to Dmitri. “Uh, you stay here... I guess.” She quickly follows her crewmates out of the room, leaving the Romanov to stay with the admirals.

* * *

Out of breath, Shane, Morgan, and Alex arrive back at the _Helix_ , then search the ship for H. They quickly find him wandering the hallways.

“H, what the hell was that about?” Shane asks. “You knocked out a whole squad of marines on the way back here.”

The cyborg ignores him and the others and continues walking. Shane places a hand on H’s shoulder to get his attention, but his mechanical third arm extends and brushes the hand aside.

“Hey!” Alex shouts after him. “We’re talking to you here! You said we need to resolve our differences. That we need to work together. Just ignoring us doesn’t solve anything!”

H swiftly turns around and looks Alex in the eye. “I’m surprised _you_ , of all people, actually understand that,” he tells the girl. “That was the whole point! We _were_ working together!” He turns his gaze toward Shane and Morgan. “But those two… they just… they gave away _every_ single advantage the we had! We _had_ a chance, it doesn’t matter how small, but we could have stopped it and they go against _all_ of their principles, go against _everything_ to work with a guy who we just met who was frozen in an iceberg, who is quite literally the closest friend that we know that our enemies have! They go and agree with him despite having worked with me daily as the divine tools of fate! They’ve saved my life, I’ve saved their lives, and they threw it all away to work with a guy we met five minutes ago! I’m not speaking to these _idiots_.” H turns once more, and briskly walks away.

“So, you’re just gonna give up that easily?!” Alex shouts down the hallway.

“I’m not giving up, I’m just done with working with fools.”

“Yeah, well… you’re a fool!”

H ignores the comment and continues walking. Shane activates his warp glove and teleports himself into the cyborg’s path. “We’re still not completely useless, you know,” he tells him. “I’m still plenty capable without Giratina’s power, and Morgan, well, she still has her powers.”

“I just decided not to delve any further into something I don’t understand,” Morgan explains as she and Alex run to catch up.

H continues to ignore his crewmates and attempts to slip past Shane.

“I get it, you’re mad, but we still need to work together if we want to stop the Mewtwos,” Alex tells him.

H turns his attention back to the girl once more. “As I said, I tried. I seriously went for it. I know I’m not good with people, dealing with those who aren’t willing to look at enlightenment, but… I _tried_. We gave it our shot and everyone else just said ‘no.’”

“But we can still fight them,” Alex replies. “We’re all willing to do it.”

“I’m not going to work with people who are willing to give up so easily.”

“No one here is giving up but _you_ ,” Alex tells him, staring him down with a fierce look in her eyes.

“If you _dare_ think I’m giving up, then you’re the one who’s a fool. There is no way that I’m giving up. I realize that, together, we could have all accomplished great things, but now working together is only going to weigh me down.”

“That’s a lie and you know it,” Alex replies.

“Come on, H,” Shane chimes in. “We’ve been working together so long. Why now?”

“Fine,” H responds. “ _Fine_. If you all want so badly to work together, I need to know that you can at least do one thing. Get Adám to meet with me in the Pokeball workshop in ten minutes.”

“What for?” Alex asks.

“Think of it as a trust exercise,” H replies. “If you bring Adám to me as promised, I _might_ trust you again.”

“We need to know that you’re not going to hurt him,” Morgan tells the cyborg.

“I solemnly swear that I will do no harm to Adám.”

“Alright,” Morgan agrees. “We’ll get him for you.”

* * *

Shane enters his former personal quarters, now belonging to Adám, closely followed by Morgan and Alex. The trio sits down on the floor across from the ancient man.

“Hello,” Adám greets his visitors.

“Hi,” Shane responds. After a momentary pause, he continues to speak. “So, at this point, you’ve probably noticed how nosey H can be.”

“I have noticed this, yes.”

“Despite his methods, he means well.” Shane sighs. “Very soon, we are going to be facing off with your Gods, and, in the face of such absolute destructive power, we need all the advantages we can get. Now, I’m not sure how much of this you know about from your cycle, but in this cycle we’ve found that all life is made up of DNA. It’s a cellular template for who, or what, an individual is. H has been trying to get a sample of yours so he can see what makes you and your Pokemon so special. Since you were the first, we believe that your specific DNA is a lot closer to the Mewtwos’. Studying it might give us the advantage we need.”

Adám gives Shane a skeptical look. “I sense your good intentions, but this type of thinking leads to premature ascension.”

“Making another Mewtwo is the _last_ thing we want to do,” Alex tells him.

“Right,” Shane agrees. “We simply want samples for study, nothing more. Collecting them is completely non-invasive.”

“Explain.”

“DNA can be collected from any of your cells.” Shane pulls out a couple small sample jars and some cotton swabs. “All you need to do is swab the inside of your cheek, and your Pokemon’s.”

Adám takes the swabs, looks at them for a moment, then back at Shane. “If it is as you say, and this is purely for knowledge, this is acceptable.” He swabs his cheek, and that of his Pokemon, then places the samples in the jars.

“Thank you,” Shane tells him. “Now, I assume this was all he was trying to get, but H did want to meet with you. He’s waiting down in one of the labs. We can accompany you if you’d like.”

“Very well.”

* * *

Shane, Morgan, and Alex walk Adám into the Pokeball workshop, where H stands waiting. The cyborg gives them a surprised look.

“Thank you. I’m shocked you actually did something.”

“Also, I got these,” Shane tells him, holding up the freshly collected DNA samples.

“What the-? Wow.” Again, H seems very surprised.

“That’s what happens when you ask nicely for things,” Alex quips.

“Hmm,” H responds. “Would you all mind leaving?” he then asks. “I’d just like to speak with Adám alone for a moment.”

“Is that okay with you, Adám?” Morgan asks, turning to the ancient man.

“Thus far, I see no reason why you would need to be here.”

“Well, if you say so,” Shane responds. He turns and walks out the door.

“We’ll just be outside,” Alex adds. She and Morgan follow Shane out, leaving Adám and his Pokemon alone in the room with H.

The cyborg gives Adám a cold look from across the room. “I do not know why they give you such faith and trust you so well after knowing you so little,” he says. “I do not know why, even after taking away what they had worked so hard for, they still trust you and still work with you. I do not know what you are here for and how you will be of any use to prevent the Universe from collapse. But, if you have strength, then show me, and, if you have strength, then we could use your help.”

H presses a button, and a spacesuit forms around him. He then presses a second button, and the wall behind him explodes. Pokeballs fly through the air as the atmosphere in the room is sucked out into the vacuum surrounding the small terrestrial moon the ship is docked on. Adám’s Pokemon springs into action, sealing the breach with a telekinetic barrier.

“What the hell are you doing?!” Shane shouts as he and the others run back into the room.

H ignores him and looks right at Adám. “Well done. Alright.”

“What is _wrong_ with you?” Alex demands of the cyborg.

“I wanted to see if he had power,” H answers. “And, if he didn’t, good riddance.”

“I believe he was... testing me,” Adám concludes.

Alex looks at H and sighs. “You have the strangest way of making friends…”

“You do realize we have to fix this wall now, right?” Shane asks.

“I have the materials pre-aligned.”

Shane sighs. “You actually planned this really well…” He shakes his head slightly in disbelief, then holds out his hand. “So, after all that craziness, we good again?”

H grabs hold and gives Shane a firm handshake. “As good as we can be.”

“Alright, let’s get back to the meeting. They’re probably worried about us by now.”

The crew sets EHRB, the _Helix_ ’s repair bot, to work fixing the hole H made in the ship, then they depart and begin walking back to the meeting.

* * *

Twelve. Captain Emelia Beckett had just finished her twelfth cup of coffee today. She’d had a rough couple of decades, and with the recent Mewtwo threat, her caffeine intake had almost doubled. After the… consultants… left in such a rush, the Romanov they left behind had just been sitting there. Doing absolutely nothing.

Her eye twitches as he reaches for yet another candy bar from his pockets. She had counted about 20 so far. How did he even have that many? Where the hell did he put them all? 

He takes a bite. She sits there, silently clenching her thirty-day chip from the Office of Anger Management. She had had just about enough of this bullcrap. 

A single explosion is heard from outside. All around Emelia, the other officers break into a murmur, wondering if somehow their home base is under attack. He takes another bite. _IS THIS GUY NOT FAZED BY ANYTHING? WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK?_

He finishes the candy bar. She leans back, relieved that it’s over. Her hands are still trembling, knuckles white. He drops the wrapper on the floor beside him, on top of all the others. Surely that’s the last of it. He reaches into his pocket and pulls out another candy bar.

“ _MOTHERFUCKER!_ ” She shouts, abruptly rising from her seat as the entire room turns to face her. The Romanov still seems not to care. Two of the marine guards escort her out of the room.

* * *

The rest of the _Helix_ crew enters the council room, passing by a very agitated looking officer being escorted out of the room. Shane looks at the woman and shrugs before following his crewmates back to where Dmitri is standing.

“Sorry about that,” Shane addresses the room, stepping up next to Admiral Graves once more.

“We detected an explosion on your ship,” she informs them. “Is everything alright?”

“Well, it is now,” Shane tells her. “But we will need some help repairing the damage.”

“We’ll get someone on it.”

“Thanks.” Shane then turns back to the council. “As I was saying, we’ve been following a person who is another Armstrong clone, much like H here, and, similarly to H, he has augmented himself. I was wondering if we could borrow some EMP weapons, possibly to disable his-”

“That’s been taken care of,” H interrupts.

“What?” Shane asks, confused.

“Spacenet.”

“Well, I guess that’s that,” Alex comments.

“Well, if there’s nothing left to discuss, we could use the repairs to our ship and we’ll be on our way to Romanov space,” Shane addresses the council.

“Good luck out there,” Grand Admiral White tells the crew.

“Thanks. I’m sure we’ll need it.”

* * *

The _Helix_ flies through warp space en route to Sector 14 in Romanov space, the location of Mir Zimoy. Tension hangs in the air as the crew knows that this very well may be their final trip.

Shane sits in the warp lab, focused on working on his warp glove. Suddenly, he feels a hand on his shoulder and looks back to see Morgan standing behind him. “Hey, Morgan,” he greets her.

“Hey yourself.” She’s trying to smile, but it doesn’t reach her eyes. If anything, she looks tired.

“What’s up?” Shane asks as he continues to tinker with the glove.

Suddenly, Morgan grabs his wrist. “Have you ever thought about what happens after this?”

Shane hesitates for a moment. The thought hadn’t even crossed his mind. He sets down the glove and leans back a bit, hands trembling ever so slightly. “Not… really.” 

“I’m not even sure we’re gonna live.” The smile returns, and, this time, it stretches a little further, as though she genuinely finds the prospect of their impending death funny.

“If we don’t, I sure as hell hope the next me does a better job.”

“It’s not your fault.”

“You know, in some sad, ironic way, it kind of is,” Shane says abruptly, turning to face Morgan again. A single tear slowly makes its way down his cheek. “I mean, I did create all life in this cycle, didn’t I?”

“We all make mistakes sometimes. I know I have, but at least you’re trying to make it right. After this, I… I was thinking of trying to make some things right too.”

Shane lifts an eyebrow, curious.

“You know,” Morgan says. “With my parents. But, if you’re not doing anything after all this, maybe you could come with me?”

“You know, I really like this ship,” Shane tells her, sighing. “It’s… Being alongside all of you guys is the only thing I knew after escaping…”

Morgan laughs nervously. “I’m not sure I can take anymore of H.”

“Yeah, same here, but… a dysfunctional family is still a family, right?”

“Yeah.”

“I guess all good things do have to come to an end, though,” Shane continues, his smile fading. “I haven’t really thought about what comes after this either.”

“Well, think about it, okay?” Morgan squeezes Shane’s shoulder a little tighter.

Shane stands up and pulls Morgan into a hug. 

_I may not have lived, but I don’t want to die._

* * *

Alex sits cross-legged on her bed, flipping through the pages of the Bible Raj had given her. The light of warp space spills in through the viewport, illuminating the room in a deep red glow. Hearing the door slide open, the girl looks up to see Naomi walking into the room.

“Hey,” Alex greets her.

“Hey. Whatcha doin’?”

Alex flips her book around and hands it to Naomi. “I was just reading the old Bible stories. I was thinking… if Adám and Eve are real, and Cain and Abel were real… what else is real? Are all the stories true, or just some of them? And, if they are real, how are the actual events different from what’s in that book?”

“It’s all so crazy,” Naomi tells her as she looks through the book. “I didn’t believe any of it, but now that I’m here with you… all the things that have happened since then… It’s so unreal.”

Alex stands up and hugs Naomi. “At least we can look for the truth together.” As she breaks away, the Sinai girl’s hand comes to a stop on the religious icon hanging around Naomi’s neck. “I remember when I gave this to you,” Alex says, running her fingers over the necklace’s smooth metal surface. “That was the day I realized you were the one.”

Naomi places her hand atop Alex’s. “I almost threw it away, you know. After that night on the roof… I… I was just so mad. I wanted to hate you. I tried so hard to hate you after that night, but I couldn’t. So I tried to forget you, but no matter what I did, I couldn’t. Now that we’re together again, I can’t even imagine life without you.”

“I know how you feel,” Alex tells her. “After you left, I tried to move on and focus on finding my dad, but you were always there, in the back of my mind. There’s a chance we might not come back from where we’re going now, so I want you to know that I love you.”

“And I love you.” Naomi’s breathing grows heavier as she leans closer to Alex. “When I’m with you, I feel something I don’t feel with anyone else, and I never want to lose that feeling again.”

Naomi places her hands on Alex’s back and pulls her into a passionate kiss. Her emerald locks brush across Alex’s face as the two girls fall back onto the bed in a loving embrace.

* * *

From beyond the great door to the Genesect lab, the sound of science can be heard, along with an occasional grunt and moan.

“I’ve got to say, this is probably the best idea you’ve had yet,” Meta says, stifling a small giggle.

“Well, we aren’t finished yet!” H exclaims. Mechanical whirrs can be heard from within.

“Wait, you want me to grab _what?_ ”

“Yes, precisely. We haven’t found a use for it yet, but it may as well be useful.”

“It’s… sticky.”

“ _Aaahhh_ , much better.”

“The shape is a bit weird.”

“The shape is **perfect** , what are you talking about?”

“I wasn’t expecting there to be so much… meat to it.”

The two lean against the wall, admiring their handiwork. In the center of the room is a cubic titanium frame interlaced with Genesect flesh. Various blinking lights flash around the surface, and it appears to have a poorly jerry-rigged weapons and propulsion system. In its core is an opening, inside which Heaty the Heat suit rests.

“Now, for the finishing touches.” H says, approaching the cube. He pulls out a pokeball from his back pocket and releases #11, his Bidoof, which he then gingerly places into the cockpit. He presses a button on the top and the machine whirrs to life. The Bidoof nibbles on a joystick and the cube begins to float, then it rockets out of the room, banging against the walls of the corridor, and just so happening to land in H’s _other_ lab.

“It’s magnificent,” Meta breathes heavily as they follow it into the other room. “ _Improvised engineering at its finest!_ ”

Meta approaches the crashed cube and kneels down beside it. The Bidoof is defensively curled up into a ball, terrified of what just happened, but otherwise unharmed. “Now we just have to wait and see how it stacks up against… high powered… near unstoppable… death gods…” Meta turns to look H in the eyes. “So, uh, try not to die out there... okay?”

“Agreed,” H says as he turns to leave.

The cyborg takes a step out the door, but Meta grabs him by the collar and drags him back into the room. “Don’t forget, that wasn’t the only science project I had planned for this evening,” she says, a wicked smile emerging on her face.

* * *

The ship’s Pokegenetics specialist Bill Wi steps out of his lab and walks down the hallway. Tasked with analyzing the recently obtained swab of DNA from Adám’s Pokemon, he makes his way to H’s lab to share his preliminary results. He steps up to the closed door and presses his finger to the console.

The door opens, and he sees H naked, strapped down to the table with a dumb smile on his face, with Meta straddled over him, installing what appears to be some sort of cybernetic... appendage onto his featureless pelvic area.

“I’ve configured its settings so that it can integrate with your technorganic nervous system,” the hacker explains. “So you should be able to feel-” She suddenly looks up, having spotted Bill standing in the door.

No one speaks or moves for ten seconds.

Finally, the scientist steps back and presses the console, and the door closes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And so it begins! The chapters for the final session! This session was the longest in Spacemon history, clocking in at about eleven-and-a-half hours long! This chapter only covers about the first two hours of that, so you're looking at four more chapters from this session.
> 
> Everything here was all RP, but it was some fun stuff. Between sessions, we all came to the conclusion that Shane's player’s suggestion of making the final battle at Earth from the end of the previous session was a really stupid idea. Through RP at the beginning of the session, we formed a new plan involving enlisting the Romanovs’ aide in fighting the Mewtwos. A united Galaxy is the way to go. And, yup, the Romanov leader is freaking John Cena. It was a complete accent. I legitimately asked “and his name is?” without thinking, and Shane's player just blurted out “JOHN CENA!” so we just rolled with it. All we did was add the “-ov” and change John to Ivan, which is apparently the Russian form of John.
> 
> Then there was H, who could have actually ended up fucking us all over. One draft of his crazy ass plan involved blowing the ship up, killing everyone on board. I think we all would have been super pissed at his player if that ended up happening, so it’s a damn good thing it didn’t. Even if the party somehow managed to survive, the deaths of the other people on the ship would make all the player characters hate H, especially Alex since H would be directly responsible for killing the love of her life. There was some good RP there too. I think it’s some of the best heat-of-the-moment RP that I’ve done in this campaign. I’m quite proud of “No one here is giving up but you.” I actually got to make a skill roll with that since it was such a fantastic thing to say narratively.
> 
> And finally we wrap up this chapter with all the romance scenes! Basically, this went down like Mass Effect, where all the final romance scenes happen as the ship flies to the endgame mission, and since the achievement in all three games for completing a romance is called “Paramour,” it made perfect sense as a title. All three were very different. First we had Morgan and Shane, who got shipped by their players back in Volume 2. Unfortunately, they really didn’t progress it at all in Volume 3. I think it would have been interesting to see how it could have developed over the volume, but at least we get this final scene here. Next up was Alex and Naomi. It was literally just like a little blip in-session with the assumption that I would write something for it during the write-up as a fitting final romance scene too tie up the series of scenes between them over the course of the volume. Finally, the unexpected ship that so many people wanted to see happen. Welp, I guess that’s canon now. H’s player could care less, but the GM pretty much became obsessed with this ship and asked if he could do something with it for the session. As I said, H’s player had no strong feelings one way or the other, so he gave it the green light. It was pretty funny, if a little risque, and the execution was solid. The GM took some inspiration from one of the Iron Bull romance scenes from Dragon Age: Inquisition with it, and I think it turned out nicely. Aside from the walk-in scene that was all the GM, Shane's player whipped up the part where they were working on the cube to make the scene extra hilarious. That particular moment was just a brief description of the thing so we got to take some liberties. But yes, H literally built a giant, weaponized companion cube!


	83. Volume 3, Chapter 16: The Winter World

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Helix crew negotiates an alliance with the Romanovs on the nation's capital world of Mir Zimoy.

The _Helix_ drops out of warp space in Sector 14, and is immediately met with a Romanov blockade. The Supremacist ships begin charging their weapons as they hail the Alliance-make frigate that just dropped on their doorstep.

“Want me to pick up?” Minerva asks.

“Go ahead,” Shane tells her.

The pilot presses the button on the console, and a Supremacist officer with a thin mustache appears on the viewscreen.

“Attention unauthorized vessel,” the Romanov man speaks. “By order of Romanov Supremacy, turn back or be fired upon.”

“We have come to parlay,” Morgan informs him.

“Why should we accept?”

“I assume by now you must have caught wind of the monstrosities ravaging the Galaxy,” Shane responds.

“Perhaps,” the Romanov officer replies, stroking his mustache. “You have news?”

“We are here on behalf of the Federation to broker an alliance in order to stop these abominations,” Shane replies. “As much as you don’t like the Federation, we need your help… and you need ours.”

“What makes you think we need _your_ help?”

“Whether or not you choose to believe it, the entire Universe as we know it is coming to an end,” H tells him. “If you want to be able to conquer or rule anything or, in fact, have any form of a government whatsoever, it is in your best interest to suck it up and help us already. Otherwise, you’re all going to wind up dying anyway knowing that there was one simple thing you could have done to prevent your own death that you refused to do due to the fact that you were too stupid to lift a finger and believe a few people.”

“N- now look, I am just ship captain,” the Romanov responds, obviously taken aback. “I am not making calls here.”

“That’s why we need to speak to the person in charge,” Shane tells him. “We would like an audience with Supreme Admiral Ivan Cenov.”

“I am just ship captain,” the officer repeats.

“You have a chain of command, correct?” H asks.

“Da.”

“Follow it up,” H tells him. “We’d be happy to speak with whoever we need to in order to get to the top.”

“Uh… One moment.”

The Romanov captain disconnects, presumably to speak with his commanding officer. Before long, the _Helix_ receives a call from another Supremacist ship. Upon accepting, a Supremacist admiral with a neatly trimmed, but graying beard appears on the viewscreen. “This is Admiral Anatoly Kozlov of _RSS Žadnost’_ ,” he introduce himself. “I understand you wish to meet on Mir Zimoy?”

“That we do,” Shane responds.

“How do I know that this is not trap?” the admiral asks. “How do I know you are not Federation assassins? What can you offer us now to ensure good intentions?”

“Take our weapons,” H replies, sounding annoyed. “Bring us in in chains. Put guns to our heads. We don’t care. We just need to speak with him now. Whatever security measures you need to take, take them. But do it quickly.”

“You may notice that our weapons are not charged,” Shane adds. “They will remain that way.”

“You think this is enough?” Kozlov asks, unimpressed.

“I mean, if you want more, I’d be happy to give it to you,” Shane tells him. He takes on digital form and jumps into the computer, then transports himself to the Supremacist ship.

Once in their systems, Shane reemerges on the bridge with his hands on his head. “You can have me as a prisoner,” he says as Romanov soldiers close in around him.

The Supremacist admiral strokes his beard as he sizes Shane up. He then turns back to the viewscreen. “Tell you what. We make deal.”

“What kind of deal?” Alex asks, suspicious of the man’s intentions.

“You give us resources, money, and I _maybe_ release your friend and get you meeting with Cenov, yes?”

“For some reason, I’m really not surprised that the entire Galaxy is on the brink of destruction and you guys want money,” Shane comments.

“Well, yes,” Kozlov responds. “Why wouldn’t you?”

“What good is money when you’re gonna be dead?!” Alex shouts. “No way, asshole! Why don’t you just go-”

“Let’s just give him the money,” Morgan interrupts. She places a hand on Alex’s shoulder and shoots her a warning glance, then turns back to the viewscreen. “How much do you want?”

Alex bites her lower lip and stands there seething with anger as the admiral strokes his beard in thought. “You give us one-hundred-thousand credits and we will let you go,” he finally says.

“What?!” Alex bursts out again, unable to contain herself. “One-hundred- _thousand?!_ We don’t have that!”

“Trust me,” Shane says to the Romanovs around him. “I’m the richest person on that ship and even _I_ don’t have that much.”

“Yes, but combined,” the admiral responds.

Shane just shakes his head. “Not even close.”

“Tell you what, then. _All_ of your money. You transfer all of your credits to me, and I maybe make something happen, da?”

“We accept on one condition,” Shane tells him. “We transfer the credits _after_ you arrange the meeting. Then, we would be deep in Romanov space and wouldn’t be able to get out until we transfer you the money, but we want what is due to us before we give you anything.”

“Then, you will not be released until then.”

“We accept.”

“Very well,” the admiral agrees. “And we will hold you as… _contingency hostage_.” He then turns to the soldiers and waves his hand toward the door as he issues an order in Romanov. Dmitri recognizes that he’s having Shane brought to the brig. The soldiers confiscate Shane’s warp glove, Pokeballs, Pokedex, and other gear, then escort him out of the room.

“Now, we shall bring you to Mir Zimoy,” the admiral says, turning back to the viewscreen. “Deactivate your warp drive and prepare for docking.”

Minerva presses a few buttons on the console, cutting off power to the warp drive as the large heavy destroyer commanding the blockade flies toward the _Helix_. The Romanov vessel activates its tractor beam, and pulls the smaller ship toward the large docking bay on its underbelly.

Once the destroyer locks in place, it begins powering up its warp drive, and it jumps away, bringing the _Helix_ along with it.

* * *

“This is such a bad idea,” Alex grumbles. “I can’t believe we’re just letting him take all our money. It’s bullshit.”

“It’s the only way to make sure Shane is safe, though,” Morgan tells her. The crew sits around the bridge anxiously awaiting their arrival at the Romanov capital world.

“Putting himself on that ship _was_ foolish, though,” H points out.

“True,” Dmitri agrees. “If he didn’t do that, we may have been able to find a better way to handle this.”

“Well, it’s too late for that now,” Morgan responds.

“Yeah, well I’m not giving that asshole all my money,” Alex retorts. “We might need it.”

“Maybe you should have put it to good use as I have done,” H tells her. “What has already been used cannot be taken.”

“All you did was spend it on stupid shit,” Alex grumbles under her breath.

“Maybe there’s a way we can avoid giving the admiral all of our money,” Dmitri suggests.

“There _has_ to be,” Alex tells him. “What if we, like, transfer our money somewhere else and just leave enough to make it convincing? Didn’t Meta have a bunch of extra Pokedexes somewhere?”

“You know, that’s not a bad idea,” Morgan compliments the girl. “I say we do it.”

“Yeah!” Alex cheers. “Fuck that guy!”

* * *

The _Žadnost’_ and the captured _Helix_ drop out of warp space outside the Romanov capital system in the core of Sector 14. As the larger ship flies toward Mir Zimoy, Admiral Kozlov and a squad of soldiers escort the imprisoned Shane back to the _Helix_.

“I have arranged meeting,” the Romanov explains as he meets the _Helix_ crew in the airlock. “You will meet Cenov in capital city. I have arranged for shuttle to bring us there.” He pauses for a moment as he looks around at the crew with greed in his eyes. “Now, the credits. Turn over your Pokedexes.”

The soldiers collect the Dexes from the crew, and hand them over to Kozlov. He looks through each one, and transfers the credits contained on them to his own account. It seems as if transferring off most of their credits has worked, but the Romanov admiral’s facial expression sours once he gets to H’s Pokedex.

“What is meaning of this?” Kozlov asks, turning the Dex around to reveal that it has zero credits stored on it

“He spent it all,” Alex tells him. “So you can’t have any of it, jackass,” she adds under her breath.

“She’s right,” Shane pitches in. “He constantly buys random shit we don’t need.”

“He literally owes _us_ money,” Morgan adds.

“Any money not doing work is useless money,” H responds to his crewmates.

“Well said,” the admiral compliments the cyborg. “Well said. We then demand tribute from this one in… _other_ form,” he addresses the others.

“You can have these,” H offers, holding up the various TMs he received from the Outer Rim gyms that he never bothered to use.

The admiral scoffs at H. “You look like man of technology, da? I would like look at your lab.”

“You would like enlightenment?” H asks enthusiastically. “Wonderful! I’ll show you everything!” He eagerly leads the admiral and several soldiers to his lab, and presents them with all of his augmentation data. The admiral accepts, and they return to the others.

“Pleasure doing business,” Kozlov tells the crew before turning back to the airlock. “Now, come,” he says, waving for the crew to follow. “I will bring you to shuttle.”

* * *

The Romanov Supremacy flag flaps in the wind as the shuttle sets down in the capital city on Mir Zimoy. A squad of Supremacist soldiers escorts Kozlov and the crew from the landing platform out to street level.

Outside, the streets are lined with crowds of people and the air roars with the thunderous sound of cheers and applause. In an extravagant show of force, rows upon rows of Supremacist soldiers and Bisharps march through the streets as sound of the Romanov national anthem blares out across the airwaves.

Kozlov and the contingent of soldiers escort the _Helix_ crew alongside the parade, passing by legions of excited Romanov citizens who jeer at what they perceive as another batch of Federation prisoners. The members of the crew keep their eyes forward and try their best to push aside any fear they have.

Eventually, they deviate from the path of the parade, and the soldiers march the crew through the Hall of Comrades and bring them inside. They move through the grand chamber lined with statues of whom Dmitri recognizes as the Romanov leaders throughout history. As they move further in, Dmitri sees that every statue starting with the leader under whose leadership the Union joined the Federation is smashed and vandalized, save for a new statue of the leader of the Supremacy, Supreme Admiral Ivan Cenov.

They move up a flight of stairs, then down another corridor, and emerge onto an open platform overlooking the parade. Cenov fiercely addresses the crowd in his native tongue. The soldiers position the crew on the opposite end of the platform from a group of Genevan and Federation prisoners, each with a Knight Commando standing behind them.

Cenov’s speech intensifies and he raises his hand, rallying the crowd. Dmitri recognizes the call for execution. Cenov swiftly brings his hand down, and so too do the Knight Commandos bring down their weapons upon the prisoners, spilling their blood across the platform.

The crowd erupts into cheers as suborbital aircraft fly overhead, releasing fireworks. Cenov turns away and steps back from the railing as his elite guard close in around him. One of the crew’s guards motions to the Supreme Admiral and he waves for them to bring the crew.

The Romanovs lead the _Helix_ crew back inside. After navigating through several long corridors and stairways, they eventually arrive at what appears to be some sort of interrogation room. Cenov motions for the crew to sit at the table.

While the members of the crew take their seats, the Supreme Admiral briefly speaks with Admiral Kozlov in a hushed tone. He then sits down across from them while Kozlov remains standing behind him. “So, I understand you have…” He pauses for a moment and looks back at Kozlov. “ _Information?_ ” The admiral nods, and Cenov turns back to the _Helix_ crew.

“You could say that,” Shane answers. “How much do you currently know about the Mewtwos?”

“Well, we know that they are incredibly powerful beings… And we know that they are damaging your Federation much more than they are us.”

“Yeah, well they’re coming for you next,” Alex retorts. “They won’t stop until we’re all _dead_.”

“We will see,” Cenov says confidently.

“You’re insane if you think you can beat them on your own,” Alex shoots back.

“And you think _you_ could help?” the Supreme Admiral scoffs. He raises an eyebrow at the rag-tag band gathered before him. He seems quite incredulous.

“We’ve already convinced the entire Federation to lend us their support in defeating these Mewtwos,” Shane explains.

“ _Good_ ,” Cenov responds. “Let the Federation throw their ships at them. What do I care?”

“Because it’s not enough,” Dmitri tells him.

“Exactly,” Shane agrees. “Even if the entire Federation navy sacrificed itself, if the Mewtwos survived there would be nothing left of your nation either. As much as the Federation hates to do this, we need your help and, conversely, you need ours.”

“Hmm.” Cenov strokes his smooth, chiseled chin. “I’m listening. Go on.”

“I have developed a weapon which will, in theory, destroy a Mewtwo in a weakened state,” Shane explains. “However, it still takes a lot of firepower to get one into that weakened state. That is why we need all the ships we can get. Additionally, we require your factories to produce these weapons. But, even with those factories, we still won’t have enough time. We were hoping to bring an artifact known as the Eye of Aether-”

“Ah,” Cenov interrupts in recognition of the name. “So that was _you_.” He seems to regard the crew much more seriously. “I see. You want the glorious Romanov war machine.”

“Yes,” Alex replies bluntly.

“And the support of your fleets,” Dmitri adds.

“Demanding the blood of the sons of Romanov is tall order,” Cenov responds. “Especially from _you_. But we may be able to come to arrangement. You represent Federation on this matter, yes?”

Shane nods.

“Very well,” the Supreme Admiral continues. “Here are our terms: we want schematics for this weapon, and our fleets should be given priority.”

“The bombs will be _equally_ distributed,” Shane interrupts.

“This is acceptable, so long as Federation does not receive more,” Cenov responds. “Additionally, we would like Eye itself.”

At this, Alex bursts out laughing. After a few moments, her expression then becomes very serious. “ _No_ ,” she says harshly.

“While we represent the Federation on this matter, we are still a third party, and the Eye of Aether stays in our control,” Shane elaborates. “Neither you nor the Federation will get access to it when this is all over.”

“Very well,” Cenov agrees. “As long as it remains out of Federation control. Finally, we would like end to all hostilities from Federation, as well as concession of these territories.”

The Supreme Admiral slides his datapad across the table. Shane picks it up and looks it over. The list of territories include the entirety of the Genevan and Sinai sectors that directly bordered the original territory of the Romanov Union, as well as several systems on the fringes of Federation core space.

“These are awfully high demands,” Shane comments, placing the datapad back on the table.

“Those are our terms,” Cenov reitterates.

“We will have to talk to the Federation about this,” Shane replies.

“Of course.”

“There is a quantum entanglement communication device on our ship linked directly with the Federation war council,” Shane informs the Supreme Admiral. “If you don’t mind, could we continue our conversation there?”

“Very well,” Cenov replies. He then turns to the admiral standing behind him. “Admiral Kozlov, see to it that their ship is brought down to surface,” he commands. “Have it kept on lock-down until further notice.”

Kozlov salutes the Supreme Admiral, then exits the room.

* * *

“This is a tall order,” Grand Admiral White says gruffly, the metallic sound of his voice only amplified by the quantum entangler. He, along with the other members of the war council, had just been informed of Cenov’s terms by the _Helix_ crew.

“We will accept nothing less,” Cenov responds, stepping closer to the holotable in the _Helix_ ’s situation room. “Otherwise, you are on your own in this war.”

“But if you don’t help, then we _all_ die!” Alex protests. “You have the choice between being wiped out and _not_ being wiped out here and you’re squabbling over who gets the upper hand in the end? Who cares when it’s between life and death?”

“You naive child,” Cenov dismisses her words.

“ _You’re_ the one who’s naive,” the girl grumbles under her breath. “Warmongering asshole…”

“Regardless, these are my terms.” Cenov says, turning back to the holotable, and the Federation Council on the other end of the line.

Countless murmurs can be heard from the lesser admirals, most taken aback by the Supremacy leader’s very bold demand. White remains silent.

“I am busy man, Admiral. It is best for all of our sakes not to keep me waiting.”

“You must be mad,” White tells him. “If we accept, we would be giving up half the Galaxy.”

“From what I hear, is much better than alternative, da?”

“Perhaps,” White says, after taking a deep puff from his cigar. “But we have one further condition.”

“I’m listening,” Cenov responds.

“The final stand… We don’t want collateral damage in Federation territories. We only ask that the final battle takes place within your space. Our representatives you have there are experts on the matter. I’m sure that you could work with them to find a suitable location.”

“We would have to determine such a location before we agree to this,” the Supreme Admiral replies. He then turns to the _Helix_ crew. “Where would you recommend? It would be… beneficial to have battle over Mir Zimoy as show of force, provided you could ensure Capital’s safety.”

“You _have_ seen the news reports, correct?” Shane asks. 

Cenov nods.

“Then, you’ve seen just one of these things tear a whole planet in half. We’re going up against dozens of them. If you want to see your capital destroyed…”

“Very well,” Cenov responds. “You _do_ have plan, da?”

“Given the limited timeframe, it would be optimal to have the battle near where the bombs were being produced, so that we could arm as many ships as possible before the onslaught.”

“There is shipyard,” Cenov offers. He presses some buttons and the holotable zooms in to a less inhabited sector of Romanov space, near what used to be the fringes of the nation’s territory. “Out of way, fully functional. We could make bomb there, and-”

“The ensuing fight would cause minimal collateral damage,” Dmitri finishes. 

Cenov glares over at Dmitri, furious that anyone dared to interrupt him, but slowly nods his head. “Da.”

“Then it is agreed,” White announces. “We will begin moving our fleets to this location at once.”

“Not so fast, Admiral,” Cenov tells him. “Bring ships to this gate,” he says very explicitly as the location of the gate flashes on the holotable. “Dozen at a time. Romanov Fleet will escort you to location. Do not stray from escort. Doing so is act of war, da?”

“So be it,” the Grand Admiral agrees. “We shall bring our ships and await your arrival.”

“I will inform my subordinates.”

White severs the connection, and the council blips out of view. With the negotiations concluded, Cenov turns and heads for the door. The Supremacy leader stops as he passes by Shane, and grabs him firmly on the shoulder.

“If this goes badly, it’s on your head,” he warns.

“Well, we either win or we die,” Shane replies. “If it does go badly, then we’ll already be dead.”

* * *

Over the next several days, the Federation fleets begin to arrive at the Supremacy’s massive shipyard in the Železo system. Once the Red Suns’ Outer Rim fleet arrives, bringing with them the station containing the Eye of Aether, the artifact is transported to the factory now equipped to produce Shane’s warp bombs. With the Eye’s power, the factory begins cranking out the weapons.

While the fleets prepare for the coming battle, and equip their ships with the warp bombs as they are produced, so too does the _Helix_ crew. Each in their own way, the members of the crew ready themselves.

Alex sits atop a crate in the ship’s cargo bay staring at the ball containing Leviathan, grasped firmly in her hand. Over the past few days, the girl had released all her other Pokemon from their original Pokeballs. She had relinquished her control over them, but they had all chosen to stay with her because of the bond she had formed with them. Leviathan, however, is _different_.

Even though the Pokemon had always listened to her, Alex had come to realize that the controlling properties of Pokeballs were probably the only reason why. While she does feel a strong connection to Leviathan, she fears that it is a one-sided connection. However, in the end, she knows that she can’t keep any of her Pokemon in traditional Pokeballs any longer.

Alex slides off the crate onto her feet, and heads to the upper deck. She then navigates the ship’s corridors until she arrives at Adám’s quarters. She presses her hand against the console, and enters through the now-open door.

Once again, Alex sees the ancient man seated on the floor, deep in meditation as his Pokemon companion floats around the room. “Hello, child,” he greets the girl. Adám looks up at her with a serene look on his face.

“Uh, hi, Adám,” Alex responds nervously. “I was, uh, wondering if you could, um, help me with something.”

“How may I be of assistance?”

“Well, I… I’ve been trying to give up power like you said,” Alex explains. “I’ve released all my Pokemon from the Pokeballs. Well, almost all of them anyway, but… there’s one I’m afraid to release. I don’t think he feels the same bond I share with all the others.”

“Not all partnerships are meant to be,” Adám tells her.

“I know that, but… he’s my strongest Pokemon. He’s ancient and powerful and I need his help to fight the Mewtwos, but if I release him, I don’t think he will listen to me. That’s why I’m asking you for help.”

“Oh?”

“I, uh… I was wondering if you could, um, do that channeling thingy that you do and help me communicate with him in a way I’ve never been able to before. So that I can ask him for help.”

“Very well,” Adám agrees. He stands up and motions for Alex to lead on.

The young girl brings the ancient man back to the cargo bay, and pulls out the ball containing Leviathan once more. She presses the button, and releases the massive creature into the room. Storm clouds radiate out from the Pokemon as the girl walks up to it and strokes its underbelly.

“This is Leviathan,” Alex says, turning back to Adám.

The ancient man says nothing and simply holds out his hand to the giant Pokemon. After a brief moment, Leviathan turns its attention to Adám. Alex can tell that he has connected with it. Adám then extends his other hand toward the girl, and bridges the connection to her.

Alex feels an incredible rush of sensations flow through her, unlike anything she has felt before. She closes her eyes and takes it all in. It feels as if a storm is raging inside her and around her. _Hey, Leviathan_ , the girl thinks.

Alex can feel a shift in the storm as the Pokemon turns its attention back to her. She opens her eyes and holds up Leviathan's Pokeball. The girl feels a chaotic swirl of feelings and emotions. _You know what this is, don’t you?_ Alex takes a deep breath. _It’s time to let you go_. She presses her finger to the button and holds it down, severing the ball’s hold on Leviathan.

Alex feels the storm swell both within and without. Its chaotic power is almost overwhelming _I think of you as a friend, you know. I love you like I do any of my Pokemon._ The girl feels the storm soothe for a moment, but then sensations of crashing waves and violent tides envelop her.

_I understand… You want to return home._ Alex thinks of the Mewtwos and the threat they pose to Galactic life. She steps toward Leviathan, and places her hand on the side of its head. _Please… help me one last time, and I promise I’ll take you home._

The raging storm within subsides. It seems as if the Pokemon understands. _Thank you._ Alex takes out one of her new Pokeballs, and presses it against Leviathan. The ball pulls the Pokemon in, and falls still in the girl’s hands. A smile forms on her face even though she knows her time with Leviathan is coming to an end. She clutches the ball against her heart for a moment, then places it on her belt.

“Thank you, Adám,” Alex says, turning back to the ancient man. She bows in respect.

Adám responds with a gentle nod, then turns and walks out of the room.

* * *

Back on the station formerly containing the Eye of Aether, Morgan, Shane, and Dmitri oversee the Federation and Romanov soldiers and technicians stripping down the warp drives in the the Space wing to be used to produce more of Shane’s warp bombs. The three talk amongst themselves as they watch them work. Morgan occasionally looks down at a datapad, keeping track of the Station’s inventory.

Behind them, a screen suddenly comes to life, casting the room into a soft glow.

“What the hell?” Shane asks in a very confused tone of voice as he turns around. The other follow suit, and are equally surprised to see no one in the immediate vicinity.

The screen displays a stasis pod with flashing lights. They can just make out the faint outline of a figure inside. Suddenly, a piercing pair of robotic blue eyes flashes on. One by one, in rapid succession, every other screen on the station begins to display the same feed or a zoomed-in version. Everyone on the station, Federation and Romanov alike, stops what they’re doing to gaze at the nearest display.

The glass begins to crack, and steam billows out of the pod. The fracture lines creep along the surface of the glass, then stop. The screws holding the front of the pod in place slowly unscrew themselves and float away, along with the panel itself. 

The figure begins to float forward, breaking through the veil of steam. As it comes into focus, the trio sees a new Mewtwo, this one augmented with plates of metallic armor and various other mechanical pieces. Something seems _very_ familiar about it.

Morgan lets out a shocked gasp and the datapad slips from her fingers as the realization sets in. The device’s screen shatters as it collides with the ground. In the silence that follows, Morgan’s crewmates reach the same conclusion.  
 _  
This Mewtwo is I._

“ **You have something of mine. I want it back.** ”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there goes another hour-long chunk of this final session! We’re just over three hours into the session and have now wrapped up all the RP before the final battle began. That really tells you something about this battle when you keep in mind that this session is over eleven hours long!
> 
> But enough about that. Let’s focus on what we’ve got going on here. We arrived in Romanov space to parlay and had to deal with some bullshit. That first captain was easy to deal with, especially once H intimidated the crap out of him, but Admiral Kozlov was another matter entirely. The greedy bastard tried to shake us down. Shane’s player’s impulsive decision to send himself to the Romanov ship was definitely not the smartest idea, as H expressed in this chapter. Luckily our characters are pretty good at guile and managed to get away with not giving up all our money.
> 
> Then it was time to deal with Cenov himself! The way the Supremacy treats others really got some of us riled up and, by extension, our characters as well. They invaded other people’s territory, killed countless civilians, then executed POWs for “spilling the blood of the sons of Romanov,” when they were just freaking defending their homeland from a bunch of warmongering assholes. GRRRRR. Alex was sort of close to getting herself kicked out of the negotiations. At the very least, her grievances were just ignored. In the end, we were able to work out some kind of deal even if it was much less than ideal.
> 
> The scene with Alex and Leviathan was something I added for the write-up that didn’t happen in-game, but I felt it was a nice touch. After the whole idea of releasing her Pokemon came up a few chapters ago, I thought it made sense that Leviathan would be the one that wouldn’t stay with her, so in my own pre-finale headcanon, I saw a moment where she went back to Messina and released Leviathan back into the waters of its homeworld.
> 
> Then, to wrap up, we get our first glimpse at what I has become. We all had a pretty good idea what was coming, but I’m sure a few of you are surprised. Stay tuned for the final battle!


	84. Volume 3, Chapter 17: The Final Stand, Part I

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The final battle begins!

“I call it… Rasberri Flipple.”

“What?”

The _Helix_ crew stands gathered around the holotable, looking at H with confused expressions on their faces as he explains his latest scheme.

“Rasberri Flipple,” the cyborg repeats, pointing to the chemical breakdown of his new concoction displayed on the holotable. The name he has given it is displayed in large letters at the top of the projection.

“That’s not even how you spell raspberry,” Alex teases the cyborg, a slight smirk on her face.

“Oh, shush you,” H shoots back. “This shall give us an edge over the Mewtwos… _Hopefully_.”

“What… is it?” Dmitri asks.

“Well, you see, it is a highly volatile mixture of heroin and a Romanov drug known as Krookodile,” H explains.

“H, what the hell are you doing with heroin and desomorphine on this ship?” Morgan chastises him. “Don’t you know that stuff is dangerous?”

“ _Precisely_ ,” the cyborg responds. “I have installed a cannon on top of the _Helix_ that will allow me to fire syringes full of Rasberri Flipple at the Mewtwos. I believe that the psychological effects of this cocktail will interfere with their psychic abilities.”

“Well, that’s… certainly something,” Shane comments.

“It’s definitely not his _worst_ plan,” Meta points out. “You should see some of the ideas he tried to rope me into.”

“Wait, really?” Naomi asks incredulously.

“Uh huh,” Alex tells her, grabbing onto her arm. “I told you, he’s _crazy_.”

“You say crazy, I say superior,” H responds.

“Yeah… whatev-”

“Guys, we’ve got warp signatures incoming,” Minerva’s voice suddenly interrupts over the comms.

Shane presses a few buttons on the holotable, and the display shifts to show the lay of the soon-to-be battlefield. Many ship signatures rapidly appear, the table’s tactical VI identifying them as very small vessels of unknown design.

“Power levels do not match a ship of such small size,” the synthesized voice informs the crew.

“That’s got to be the Mewtwos,” Morgan says.

“ **Humans… Your time is at an end** ,” the telekinetically projected voice of a Mewtwo echoes through the minds of the crew, confirming her suspicion.

“Marvelous!” H exclaims. “Let us show them the true path to perfection! To the Flipple cannon!” With that, the cyborg bolts out of the room in the direction of the airlock.

“Alright, Dmitri, you stay here and keep track of the battlefield from the holotable,” Shane instructs his crewmate. He then turns to the others. “Morgan, Alex, let’s man the guns.”

While Shane and Morgan make for the door, Alex holds Naomi close. “Please, stay here where it’s safe,” Alex tells her.

“I will, don’t worry,” Naomi assures her.

“Promise me you’ll stay out of danger.”

“I promise.” Naomi clings tightly to Alex. “But I need to know that you’ll be safe too.”

“I give you my word.” With a parting kiss, Alex turns and follows her crewmates out of the room.

The trio runs to the bridge, and each of them settle down into the seats for the gun controls. Looking through their targeting viewfinders, they can see the battle unfolding. Dozens of Mewtwos fly amongst the Romanov and Federation fleets as they converge on the attackers.

“ **Your end represents a new beginning.** ”

A pale pink Mewtwo that Morgan recognizes from her visions of the Eye of Aether blasts a beam of brilliant light straight through the length of a Romanov destroyer. Another, dark toned Mewtwo summons a black hole in the center of a squadron of Federation cruisers, sucking them all in. A burning red Mewtwo flies straight through one of the Red Suns’ frigates, reducing it to a molten mass of metal and slag as fire sprays out in all directions.

“Minerva, patch us into the fleetwide comm network!” Shane shouts to the pilot.

“You got it, boss,” Minerva responds as she weaves through the laser fire. She presses a few buttons on the console, and, suddenly, the sound of comm chatter starts pouring through.

“Woo!” the crew makes out the voice of Matt Suzuki, the Red Suns’ ace pilot. “And I thought fighting _one_ of these things was bad enough!”

“All ships, focus your fire, dammit!” they then hear Grand Admiral White shout. “Prioritize the biggest threats first!”

“That one with the black holes looks pretty dangerous,” Dmitri suggests.

“We’re on that one,” Shane responds, tracking the dark-colored Mewtwo with his viewfinder. “We could use some support from a few more ships!”

Minerva makes a strafing run past the Mewtwo, and the _Helix_ crew opens fire. Alex manages to land a few hits with the ion cannon, but they just seem to deflect off its barriers. Morgan has a bit more luck punching a small hole through the barrier with a focused stream of fire using the photon repeater. Shane attempts to follow up with a pulse of the plasma beam, but the Mewtwo dodges out of the way. H then launches a syringe of Rasberri Flipple at it, but the Mewtwo simply raises a hand and stops it with a telekinetic burst. 

“ **Your tools are meaningless** ,” the menacing voice sounds in the cyborg’s head. The Mewtwo rotates the syringe around, and flings it back at H, narrowly missing him.

Heeding Shane’s call, a squadron of Federation cruisers falls in line, and unleashes a volley of fire at the _Helix_ ’s target, landing several more hits. Meanwhile, another Federation battlegroup focuses their fire on an icy blue Mewtwo, slamming it with several warp bombs and decimating its barriers. Unfortunately, a Mewtwo of a much deeper shade of blue directs a pulse of cosmic energy toward its injured brethren and rejuvenates its barriers.

“Damn!” a Federation officer shouts. “They just get right back up!”

“You’ve just gotta keep hitting them again and again!” Petra’s voice responds. “That’s how _we_ killed one.” Her ship, the _RUS Draken_ , slips between a group of cruisers, and makes a strafing run past the icy blue abomination, photon cannons spraying out a steady stream of fire.

“Easier said than done!” the officer responds.

Minerva brings the _Helix_ around for another pass and forms up with the Federation ships following her lead. Alex fires first, causing the Mewtwo to dodge to the side, right into Morgan and Shane’s combined assault. The Federation ships then follow up with another barrage, popping the abomination’s barriers.

“Hit it hard while its barriers are down!” Shane commands the nearby ships.

The Federation ships launch their warp bombs, but the Mewtwo generates another black hole to guard itself. The bombs are pulled into the gravity well before they can make contact.

Just then, the flaming Mewtwo rockets past, and unleashes a directed surge of flames at one of the Federation ships accompanying the _Helix_. The flames burn through its hull, and the ship explodes from the inside, causing massive globs of molten metal to fly out, badly damaging the surrounding ships.

Minerva cranks the engines up to maximum, launching the _Helix_ away from the danger. The pale blue Mewtwo flies directly at the frigate to intercept it, but the pilot rolls the ship out of the way just in time. The icy abomination is so close that the front viewport begins to frost over as it glares at the crew with its fierce, cold, blue eyes.

“Talk about getting the cold shoulder,” Minerva quips.

The pilot continues to weave the ship through the chaos as the Mewtwos toss ships around like toys, banging and smashing them into each other. Keeping her distance from the black holes, she tries to line up a shot for the gunners.

“Zose black ‘oles are a problem!” Rena’s voice sounds over the comms. “Take zem out!” she commands the Outer Rim fleet.

A large group of frigates and buckets move in on the Mewtwo generating the black holes, and manages to get several warp bombs through. The resulting series of explosions leave it looking pretty injured.

“Now it’s our turn,” Alex says as she lines up a shot. She fires off a few bursts from the ion cannons, but the shots go wide. “ _Damn it!_ I’m no good at this!”

“Trust me, you’re at least better at this than Dmitri,” Shane tells her, recalling the Romanov’s attempts at being a gunner during the Battle of Solace Prime all those months ago. He then lines up his own shot and fires a pulse from the plasma beam.

The Mewtwo deflects the beam away, but gives Morgan the opening she needs. She unloads with the photon repeater, and tears through its flesh. The black holes dissipate as the Mewtwo falls still. “Yes!” Morgan shouts triumphantly. “Someone, finish it off!”

“If only…” Shane mutters. “Hey, H!” he then shouts over the comms. “Whatever you’re doing up there doesn’t seem to be very effective. We need you in here manning the warp bombs.”

“But I must man the Flipple cannon!” the cyborg responds.

“Damn it, H!” Shane shouts back. “The warp bombs are more important!”

“Alright, _fine_.”

H begins heading back for the airlock, but, suddenly, the whole ship rolls as Minerva attempts to dodge past the ice and fire Mewtwos converging on the _Helix_. It seems like the ship has made it through, but then it lurches violently, nearly slamming H against the side of the hull.

“They’ve grabbed us!” Minerva shouts as the ice Mewtwo throws the _Helix_ at the waiting fire Mewtwo. The crew hears a loud explosion as the burning hot creature melts its way through the airlock. “It’s boarding us!”

Using his extendo-legs, H propels himself into the ship through the melted airlock. He then leaps at the Mewtwo, brandishing a pair of Syringes. Both needles find their mark, and the cyborg injects the abomination full of Rasberri Flipple.

“ **I am far beyond your attacks.** ”

The Mewtwo glares at the cyborg with its burning red eyes as it lifts him off his feet. With a mere flick of the wrist, the creature propels H across the open corridor just behind the bridge. Just before he lands, H deploys his belly-pogo, and bounces himself further along. He somersaults mid-air as he flies across the catwalks above the cargo bay, and lands on his feet down on the lower deck.

“I’m no use here!” Alex shouts to her crewmates on the bridge as she leaps out of her seat. “I’m going to help.” The girl pulls out a Pokeball as she heads for the door.

“Wait, take our Pokemon as backup,” Morgan tells her. She releases her Espeon, then looks over at Shane. He nods back and releases his Cofagrigus.

The two then turn their attention back to the battle raging outside. They both take aim at the icy Mewtwo still flying near the _Helix_ and fire, driving it away for the time being. Suddenly, another warp signature blips on the scanners as a gigantic pink space Wailord drops out of warp space. Morgan and Shane instantly recognize the Pokemon belonging to Captain Benz that once swallowed the _Helix_.

With her friends’ Pokemon behind her, Alex steps out of the bridge and throws out her Pokeball, releasing Leviathan and blocking the fiery Mewtwo’s path as it advances. Meanwhile, Dmitri runs out from the situation room and throws out his Gyarados.

As Morgan’s Espeon prepares a psychic attack, Alex pulls out a water gem from her bag and tosses it up into the air. “Leviathan, take this!” she shouts. The massive sea beats zaps it with a bolt of electricity, and drains the energy contained within. “Now, Water Spout!” Leviathan roars, then floods the ship with a massive surge of water. The Mewtwo’s barriers shatter from the impact of the incredibly powerful attack and its fires fizzle as it is sent flying backward into a wall.

“Ness, Aqua Tail!” Dmitri then commands his Gyarados. The large sea serpent lunges at the Mewtwo as it lifts itself back into the air, and strikes it with his muscular tail. Despite the powerful hits, the abomination still stands strong.

“ **...I will not be stopped by _Humans_.** ”

The Mewtwo’s flames flare back up as it floats through the air toward the crew and their Pokemon. Its hands moves together as a ball of superheated energy materializes before it. With a lunge, the energy erupts outward in a beam, striking Ness, Yvonne, and Leviathan, and melting the catwalks. Yvonne’s eyes flash as the Espeon leaps away from the rapidly disappearing catwalk she stands upon and falls safely into H’s arms on the lower deck. The mass of molten metal suddenly halts, suspended in the air by Yvonne’s psychic energy, then it flies toward the airlock.

“Leviathan, blast it with water!” Alex shouts, pointing toward the floating blob of liquid metal. The massive Pokemon sprays out a stream of water at the molten mass as it passes through the airlock, causing it to cool, effectively sealing the breach caused by the Mewtwo.

Just as it seems they’ve gotten a stroke of luck, the _Helix_ rumbles as its hull is pierced by a massive icicle. The pale blue Mewtwo breaks free from the tip, and floats into the open space above the cargo bay. It immediately directs a blast of supercooled air at Dmitri’s Gyarados. Luckily the sea serpent is able to push himself out of harm’s way.

“Great!” Minerva’s voice sounds over the ship’s comms. “Now there are _two_ of them on the ship!”

“We shall deal with them all the same!” H declares, even though the pilot can’t hear him. Little pulses of electricity spark out from the cyborg as he charges up energy.

Meanwhile, Shane’s Cofagrigus moves in and lobs a ball of shadowy energy at the weakened Mewtwo. The flame-covered creature quickly blips itself into warp space for a second, allowing the attack to pass right through the space it once occupied. Upon reappearing, the Mewtwo raises its hands and forms a ball of fire between them. It throws it down at the floor beneath, and it detonates in a fiery explosion that swallows Yvonne, Ness, and Leviathan. When the flames clear, Morgan’s Espeon lies unconscious while the other two Pokemon remain standing.

The burning Mewtwo then looks upwards and flies straight at the ceiling. Air begins rushing out into the vacuum of space as the abomination melts its way through the hull. However, as the abomination flees the _Helix_ , Benz’s Wailord rams right into it, completely knocking it out.

“We must do something about that hole!” H shouts. He presses a few buttons on his arm, and his giant cubic creation flies out of his lab. The hunk of metal wooshes past the cyborg, straight up to the hole in the ceiling, almost completely plugging it. H then launches several sticky grenades upward, sealing it entirely.

“That’s enough for you, Ness,” Dmitri says as he recalls his Gyarados. He then pulls out another Pokeball, and releases his Scizor. Next, the Romanov reaches for his commlink. “Morgan, your Espeon is down!” he shouts. “Send us another Pokemon!”

“Got it!” comes Morgan’s reply. Back on the bridge, she quickly releases her Charizard and directs it out the door. She then turns her attention back to the battle raging outside. Ships explode all around as the Mewtwos tear the gathered fleets apart. She and Shane focus in on the blue Mewtwo healing the others and unload their weapons at it, landing a few hits.

“Gigan, Steel Wing!” Dmitri commands his newly released Scizor. Gigan flies at the sole remaining Mewtwo on the ship, and strikes it with her razor sharp wings, putting a chink in its barrier.

Shane’s Cofagrigus follows up by launching a small ball of ghostly flame in an attempt to burn the icy being. Unfortunately, the Mewtwo easily floats itself out of the way. It pays the ghostly coffin no mind, instead focusing on Morgan’s Charizard as he rapidly flies down the corridor at it. The flame Pokemon spits out a stream of fire, but the Mewtwo simply raises its hand and telekinetically deflects the flames around itself. It then returns the favor by unleashing a blast of psychic energy. With strong instincts on his side, the Charizard dives down to the lower deck, avoiding the hit.

“ **Your fleeting attempts change nothing** ,” the voice of the Mewtwo echoes throughout the ship. The icy abomination then turns its attention to Leviathan. “ **None shall stand against the forces of the Universe.** ” It brings its hands together, and the air surrounding Alex’s Pokemon begins to rapidly cool.

The raindrops surrounding Leviathan freeze solid and clatter to the floor as ice begins to form over its skin. Faster and faster, the ice spreads, freezing the Pokemon solid. Alex looks on in horror as Leviathan falls from the air and smashes into the ground, shattering into thousands of pieces.

“ _ **Noooooo!!**_ ” the girl screams in agony. She trembles with shock, but the feeling is soon replaced with that of pure rage. Alex glares at the Mewtwo who killed her Pokemon, hatred burning in her eyes. “ _ **YOU!**_ ” she shrieks as she steps forward and flings a Pokeball with all her might. Sparks fly out from the ball as her Chandelure emerges. “Lumiera, _Inferno!!_ ”

The ghostly Chandelier unleashes a torrent of flame at the Mewtwo, but, unfortunately, the abomination deflects them away with a pulse of psychic energy. “ **You cannot stop our will.** ”

“ ** _DIE!_** ” Alex screams back at the monster.

Morgan’s charizard flies in for another pass, and spits out another stream of fire at the icy Mewtwo. The flames eat away at its barriers, but the creature pays it no mind. A blast of snow and ice explodes outward from the Mewtwo, knocking the Charizard, as well as Alex’s Chandelure away, dealing a nasty blow to both.

Before the monster can make its next move, massive bolts of electricity begin flying up from the lower deck. H’s eyes and hair glow like a lightbulb as sparks discharge violently off the cyborg in all directions. “Don’t mess with my tools!” he bellows as his power overcharges. He claps his hands together and form the largest lightning bolt he has ever held. H looks upward as he takes aim, then slings the bolt through the air at the speed of light. It pierces right through the Mewtwo’s chest, launching it across the open space. The abomination falls right at Alex’s feet.

“You killed Leviathan!” the girl screams at the wounded monster lying before her. She glares down at it with a look of pure hatred and draws her plasma knife.

The fallen Mewtwo stares back, its cold blue eyes still faintly glowing. “ **You have no idea what you-** ” The abomination’s words are cut short as the girl drops to her knees, bringing the blade down right between its eyes.

Alex pulls the knife out and lifts it back into the air. “He was special!” she screams as she brings it down again. “He was one-of-a-kind!” And again. “He! Was! My! _Friend!_ ” With each word, Alex stabs the abomination again and again and again, spattering crimson blood across the floor and her body. Tears streaming down her face, Alex continues in a blind range, slashing and stabbing the Mewtwo as incoherent screams of pain and anger escape her mouth.

Hearing the girl’s screams, Morgan runs out from the bridge. _Oh, no_ , she thinks, seeing Leviathan’s shattered remains. Then she sees Alex sitting there, stabbing the Mewtwo over and over, completely soaked in its blood. “Alex!” Morgan shouts. She runs up to the girl and pulls her away. “Alex, it’s okay,” she says, wrapping her arms around her and hugging her tightly. “I’m sorry… I’m sorry, but it’s _okay_. Please… just _stop_.”

The knife falls from Alex’s hand, and she curls up in Morgan’s arms as she breaks down into sobs. “I’m sorry,” Morgan says again, trying her hardest to comfort the girl. “I’m sorry.”

Eventually, Alex’s sobs begin to subside. “I promised I would take him back home,” she says in a faint, hoarse whisper. “Why did he have to die?”

“These things just happen sometimes,” Morgan tells her. “It’s terrible, I know, but you can’t give up now. You can mourn later, but right now we have a battle to win. Don’t let your Pokemon’s death be for nothing.” She stands up and pulls the girl to her feet. “Are you gonna be okay?”

Alex nods.

“Alright,” Morgan responds. “Let’s get back to the bridge.”

“I have to do something first.” Alex turns walks down the corridor to her room. She takes a deep breath, then steps inside.

First, she pulls off her blood-soaked top and casts it aside. Next to come off are her gloves, equally saturated with blood. Alex looks at the words tattooed on her arm, and clenches her fists in determination.

The girl then walks over to the box containing her other Pokeballs and fishes around until she finds the one she’s looking for; it contains Dynamo, the Eelektrik she caught as a Tynamo back on Messina, the same day she caught Leviathan. To her, it feels like a fitting way to honor her fallen companion.

Alex clips the ball on her belt where Leviathan’s used to be, then turns and exits the room. She then makes her way to the bridge and takes her position at the guns once more.

“Hold it together!” Admiral Graves’ voice sounds over the comms. “We cannot falter now!”

Despite her determination, things aren’t looking great. Only a few Mewtwos have been taken down, and many have begun regenerating, healing their wounded bodies. A large chunk of the combined Galactic fleet has been decimated, with most of the losses on the Federation side. The Romanovs use the Federation ships as shields, protecting their own hides from the Mewtwos’ onslaught.

With the _Helix_ ’s boarders dealt with, Minerva steers the ship back into the fray, lining up shots for the crew. The Mewtwo responsible for the destruction of Harmonia streaks, by and the gunners take aim. Alex once again misses, but Shane and Morgan find their mark and put some holes in its barriers.

“New warp signature coming in!” Dmitri broadcasts from the situation room.

Another Mewtwo drops in from warp space, this one covered in cybernetic armor plating. _I_. Benz’s Wailord, along with a group of nearby Romanov ships, moves in to intercept him. A massive bolt of lightning shoots out from the robotic Mewtwo, and strikes the Wailord head-on, instantly frying the spacefaring Pokemon alive. Alex turns away, unable to bear the sight of yet another Pokemon dying.

I then rockets away, leaving behind an explosion of electrical energy that rips through the surrounding Romanov ships. Like a streak of light, I moves across the battlefield, directly for Grand Admiral White’s command ship. The cyborg Mewtwo lifts she ship with his mind as if it were nothing. At the same time, another Mewtwo latches onto the nearby _Halberd_.

“Minerva, get us close!” Morgan shouts to the pilot. “We have to save them!” She can tell the Mewtwos are about to throw the two dreadnoughts at each other.

Once more manning his cannon atop the _Helix_ , despite his crewmates protests, H takes aim at I as the ship gets within range. First he fires off an EMP grenade at the augmented Mewtwo, then immediately follows up with another syringe of Rasberri Flipple. The attack temporarily stuns I, causing him to let go of White’s ship. Unfortunately, the other Mewtwo lines up the _Halberd_ , preparing to throw it like a javelin through the Federation capital ship.

“No you don’t!” Morgan shouts. She, along with Shane and Alex, opens fire on the abomination. Turning its attention to the new threat, the Mewtwo blocks the incoming fire with the _Halberd_ instead of throwing it. Explosions ripple down the side of the dreadnought as it absorbs the full force of the _Helix_ ’s weapons. Morgan winces, but she knows the damage would have been far worse had the Mewtwo smashed the _Halberd_ into the other dreadnought.

“ **Humans, lay down your arms** ,” I’s voice sounds both within everyone’s minds and across the comm network. “ **Surrender the Eye of Aether to me and I may consider sparing your lives.** ”

“Ah, go fuck yourself,” Matt responds over the comms.

“ **Then you will die.** ” Another beam of light streaks across the battlefield as I makes a beeline for the factory containing the Eye.

“Follow him!” Shane shouts to Minerva.

“You got it, boss!” The pilot fires the engines to maximum, and the _Helix_ shoots off in pursuit of the cybernetic Mewtwo.

Minerva rapidly closes the distance between them, and pulls the ship into dock just as I breaches through the station’s walls.

“We’re going after him,” Morgan tells the pilot. “Keep the ship safe.”

“You can count on it,” Minerva responds.

The crew forms up at the airlock, then boards the factory station. Following the map provided by Cenov, they run as fast as they can toward the Eye.

“ **Stand aside** ,” I’s voice booms in their minds. “ **You will not stop me from perfecting the Universe.** ”

“We will, or we’ll die trying,” Morgan shouts back over the comms.

“ **Oh, but you _will_ die trying.**”

“Then what are you waiting for?” Morgan asks. “Come out and face us.”

The station rumbles as I blasts through the wall in front of them. The station’s bright lights reflect off his metallic, armor-plated cybernetics. “ **As you wish.** ”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The final battle has begun! This was about another two-hour chunk of the session, so we’re just under halfway through! The thing I like about combat is that it really condenses. Two hours of combat is way shorter than just one hour of RP in terms of writing. It’s quicker to go through the recording of the session, that’s for sure. I went through it pretty much non-stop, outlining the events and then went back and filled in all the details.
> 
> First, we start off with a fun little scene I added to explain H’s new crazy plan: shooting the Mewtwo’s up with drugs! Classic H. I felt like it was a nice way to open the chapter before we get into combat!
> 
> For the space combat bit, I tried to write it in a similar way to how I handled space battles in Seeing Red. That means action with dialogue interspersed throughout. I had to come up with most of the Mewtwo lines and comm chatter on my own since none of that kind of stuff happened in-game. I’m pretty happy with how that turned out.
> 
> Then we got boarded. Shane's player had to step out for a few hours right around when the Mewtwos boarded the ship, so Morgan's player ran his character for him while he was gone. It was still a fun fight. That fire Mewtwo was powerful, but it was a glass cannon. I finally got to hit something with Water Spout at full power, since it reduces in power the more damage you have and the GM always targeted Leviathan first every time I used it, and I got to power it up with a water gem to boot! Additionally, both Water Spout and Eruption hit all spaces adjacent to the user, plus ten meters straight up. The GM decided to bend this rule a bit for the Mewtwo and had it use Eruption in a straight ten meter line and had it drop lava hazards. Luckily, Morgan’s Espeon has Magic Bounce and bounced that hazard right out the airlock! I even got to seal up the breach with it by spraying water at it! And then H’s wacky creation, in true H invention fashion, ended up being little more than a glorified hole-plugger for the other hole!
> 
> Then there was that ice Mewtwo… Once again with the OHKO moves that are modified to be kill moves. I failed the roll for Leviathan to survive by like five… It sucked. RIP Leviathan. You will be missed. The only reason the GM let me add that scene with Leviathan in the last chapter is because Leviathan died in this fight, because apparently it had too much of a “happy ending” for his tastes. So yeah, now you know what will happen if you kill Alex’s Pokemon. She went way more hardcore than Dmitri did that one time. Honestly, this chapter is the sole reason I decided to give this work the "Graphic Depictions Of Violence" warning (although the scene with Dmitri in Volume 2 helped a little, I suppose).
> 
> Then I showed up in his new Mewtwo form! Guess who we get to fight next chapter!


	85. Volume 3, Chapter 18: The Final Stand, Part II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The final battle rages on as the Helix crew faces off with I.

“ **You will not stand in my way** ,” I’s voice resonates in the minds of the _Helix_ crew.

“It doesn’t have to be this way!” Alex shouts back. “You don’t have to destroy us all!”

“ **It is the only way you can be saved** ,” a different Mewtwo’s voice speaks softly in their minds. “ **...From yourselves.** ”

“ **We have seen no alternative** ,” comes another, much harsher response.

I gazes at each crew member with his fiercely glowing mechanical eyes. “ **You Humans, of all Humans, are the worst your cycle has to offer, grasping at powers that don’t belong to you.** ”

“Tell that to Giratina!” Shane yells. “I gave those powers back!”

“I don’t want to have to use this power,” Morgan adds. “But if you’re going to fight us, I will. But I’m not going any deeper.”

“ **Fascinating** ,” a third Mewtwo voice sounds, this one calm and reflective. “ **These Humans show a discipline uncharacteristic of their kind.** ”

“ **They are but a few out of billions** ,” the harsher tone responds. “ **Even if one Human is good, the potential damage their species can inflict is far too great.** ”

“ **But perhaps these Humans show the potential of their species to move beyond their destructive impulses.** ”

“ **Yet still they suffer** ,” the soft-spoken Mewtwo interjects. “ **Humans still bring so much pain upon themselves.** ”

“But there is love and happiness as well,” Alex speaks up. “Can’t you see that?”

“ **This means nothing** ,” I says menacingly. “ **I will give you one last chance. Stand aside, and I will fix this Universe. I will bring it to perfection.** ”

“No,” Morgan replies forcefully. “Not at the cost of Humanity.”

“The simple fact that you believe in perfection shows your own flaw,” H declares as he stares down I. “It is the stride _toward_ perfection that is perfect.”

“ **What does it mean to stride toward perfection if you never truly aim to reach it?** ” I asks of the cyborg.

“Simply remember that it was the journey, not the destination.”

Jolts of electricity spark off the mechanical Mewtwo as he begins to charge up energy. “ **A journey is nothing if you go nowhere. Your contentment is your failure.** ” I fires off a blast of lightning at the _Helix_ crew, causing them to scatter and reach for their Pokeballs.

“Not if it is in knowing that you can always keep improving,” H shouts as he releases his Floatzel. “#9 Rain Dance!” His Pokemon begins to dance around, and rain clouds begin to form as the cyborg loads up his Pokeball cannon and takes aim. He launches a pester ball at I, which explodes in a large fireball, singing his cybernetically armored flesh. Still aflame, I flies forward, charging up for another strike.

“We’re not gonna make it that easy,” Alex says, more to herself than anyone. She throws her Pokeball down, and it bounces off the ground, releasing her Meowstic midair. “Loki, use Light Screen!”

The psychic feline summons a barrier of protective energy around the _Helix_ crew and their Pokemon, but it comes too late for Shane’s freshly released Malamar. I fires off a large ball of lightning that slips through the closing shroud and finds its mark, taking the warpy squid out in one massive blast of sparks. Shane immediately recalls his fainted Pokemon and releases his Klefki instead.

I wastes no time in following up with another attack, unleashing a torrent of flames from his cybernetically implanted flamethrowers that melts right through the armor of the icy automaton that Morgan captured on Jötunheimr. Luckily the giant ice statue remains standing.

“Biollante, Earthquake!” Dmitri commands his Flygon. With a flap of her wings, the green dragon rushes forward, and slams down on the ground near I, causing the whole station to rumble. The cybernetic Mewtwo floats skyward, completely unharmed. Dmitri curses his own misjudgement, then unleashes a blast of ghostly energy, landing a hit on I.

Meanwhile, Morgan hangs back and begins building up her own power. Unfortunately, I seizes the opportunity to redirect her psychic energies into himself. “Hadrian, use Ice Beam!” Morgan commands her icy Pokemon, angered by I’s actions. The pale blue automaton fires off a beam of pure cold energy, landing a solid hit against I.

“K.E.Y.S., use Mirror Shot!” Shane commands his Klefki. The Key Ring Pokemon floats forward and begins glowing brightly. K.E.Y.S. directs the glowing light into a focused beam that strikes I right in the face, temporarily blinding him. Shane immediately follows up by raising his hand and firing a blast of warp energy from his warp glove, scrambling I’s cybernetic equipment.

In retaliation, the cybernetic Mewtwo raises a hand and fires off his own burst of energy, shorting out Shane’s glove. He then unleashes a massive blast of psychic energy, knocking Shane backwards. Shane winces in pain as he tries to stand up to the hit. He begins to glitch out, but he redirects the glitches at I, disabling his psychic attacks for the time being.

“#9, you have done your job!” H declares. “Time to pass the baton!” The cyborg recalls his Floatzel, then releases #1. The recently evolved Rhyperior, now fully decked out with an array of cybernetics, lets out a mighty roar as he emerges from his ball. Not wasting any time, H loads up his cannon with an EMP grenade, and takes another shot

The grenade flies past I, then explodes directly behind him, shorting out his cybernetics for just a moment. The lights on his augmentations flicker, then flash brightly before returning to a solid state. The residual electricity in the air redirects into the cybernetic Mewtwo as he begins charging up for another attack.

“ **You think giving up your power will save you?** ” I asks as he glares around the battlefield at the crew. He focuses on Shane, staring him down with his glowing cybernetic eyes that appear all the more menacing due to his partially burned away face. “ **You’ve accomplished _nothing_.** ” He focuses his charged energy into another ball of electricity, and throws it at Shane.

“ _#1!!_ ” H shouts. His Rhyperior charges across the battlefield, and, as he draws near, the lethal lighting sphere changes course and collides harmlessly with the drill Pokemon. H looks over toward his crewmate and nods.

“Loki, use Reflect!” Alex shouts, leaping back from the advancing I. Her Meowstic summons yet another protective barrier around the crew and their Pokemon. “Great job! Now, come back!” The girl quickly recalls Loki, then throws out another Pokeball, this one containing her Venusaur.

“Biollante, Hyper Beam!” Dmitri shouts. His Flygon swoops across the battlefield, spitting out a beam of powerful energy from her mouth, cutting across the floor and right into I, delivering a decisive hit. The Romanov follows up his Pokemon’s attack by blasting I with another burst of energy, further hindering the cybernetic Mewtwo’s progress.

“K.E.Y.S., use Metal Sound!” Shane commands his Klefki. K.E.Y.S. jiggles his keys furiously at I, capturing his attention. Seizing the opportunity, Shane starts glitching once more as he prepares a random attack. Vines form from the glitches, and he brings them crashing down on I with all his might before they dissipate.

Keeping up the assault, Morgan aims her own flamethrower at I and pulls the trigger, unleashing a wave of fire. The cybernetic Mewtwo flies through the flames, positioning himself right in the thick of his foes. He releases a burst of lighting in all directions, but the combatants surrounding him manage to leap out of the way.

“Hadrian, use Hammer Arm!” Morgan commands. The icy automaton lunges at I, and slams one of its massive arms arms down on him, cracking his visor. The cybernetic Mewtwo rockets upward into the air and forms another sphere of electricity. He lobs it at Hadrian, but the shot goes wide and flies toward Alex.

The girl leaps into the air, flipping over the lightning ball as it flies underneath her. “You’ll have to do better than that!” she taunts I as she lands. He just glares back at her with a cold stare. The burned away flesh and metal frame reminds her of the titular character of the _Eliminator_ films, and it sends a shiver of fear down her spine.

“#1, use Chip Away!” H commands his Rhyperior. The augmented Pokemon charges at I and lunges at him, but the cybernetic Mewtwo flies further up into the air, causing #1 to smash the floor. I unleashes a rush of flames from his flamethrowers, igniting the group of Pokemon below him.

The floor shakes as Hadrian collapses. Morgan recalls the animated ice statue and releases her Chairzard. “Blaise, Sunny Day!” she shouts as the Pokemon emerges. The Charizard flies up into the air and spits out a giant ball of fire that floats in the air like a miniature sun.

“Dozer, use Growth!” Alex commands her Venusaur. Absorbing the energy of the artificial sun, Dozer begins to build up energy.

“K.E.Y.S., use Astonish!” Shane orders his Pokemon. The Klefki floats over to I, but he simply brushes it aside with a burst of psychic energy.

“ **I tire of this** ,” the cybernetic Mewtwo’s voice echoes through the crew’s minds. He flies across the battlefield, headed in the direction of the Eye of Aether.

“Oh, no you don’t,” Alex says as I approaches her. She quickly grabs her plasma knife off her belt, and slashes at him as he passes by, just managing to graze his tail.

“#1, stop him!” H shouts. “Rock Wrecker! Full speed ahead!” Rocket thrusters mounted on the Rhyperior’s tail flare to life, and he charges after I. Drill spinning, the rocky Pokemon slams right into the cybernetic Mewtwo, and smashes him right through the wall.

“ **You will not stop me.** ” With a flash of light, I teleports away, reappearing a ways down the corridor.

“After him!” Morgan shouts. “Blaise!” Her Charizard swoops in, and Morgan climbs up onto his back. With a thrust of his wings, Blaise propels himself and his trainer down the corridor after I with the rest of the crew and their Pokemon close behind.

When I reaches the end of the corridor, he warps himself through the wall, maintaining an unobstructed path to the Eye while his pursuers are forced to find another way around. As they run, Shane and Dmitri recall their Pokemon and swap in Delphox and Scizor.

“Dozer, keep using Growth!” Alex commands her Venusaur as they run along. The Pokemon continuously builds up energy as they draw nearer to the Eye.

Finally, the winding corridors open up to a large open chamber where the powerful sphere of Time floats, powering the production of warp bombs. The _Helix_ crew can see their foe in the distance, approaching the artifact.

“Now, Sunny Day!” Alex shouts. Her Venusaur’s flower begins to glow, and, soon, a bright ball of light emerges and floats up into the air. This small sun’s energy radiates out, filling both Dozer and Blaize with energy. “That’s it for now,” Alex says as she recalls her Pokemon. “Let’s finish this Lumiera!” She throws her Chandelure’s ball through the beam of her Venusaur’s passing her Pokemon’s energy along to her next. “Minimize!”

H dashes forward and leaps into the air, then magnetizes himself to the bottom of one of the catwalks above. He lines up a shot with his Pokeball cannon, and launches a string shot grenade. The shot flies across the chamber and hits I squarely in the back, hampering his progress.

“ **You think you can stop me?** ” the cybernetic Mewtwo asks as he turns to face his pursuers. Sensing the power radiating off Alex’s Chandelure, I launches a blast of warp energy at the Pokemon.

“ _No!_ ” Alex screams, recognizing the same ability Shane used to scramble I’s barriers and augmentations. Running as fast as she can, Alex moves toward the incoming attack, then flips herself into the air, intercepting the attack. She winces as the blast makes contact, but she lands on the ground relatively unharmed.

“#1, use Stone Edge!” H commands his Rhyperior. The Pokemon’s rockets flare up once more as he propels himself toward his foe. #1 slams into I full force, knocking him back several feet.

Righting himself, I floats upward and materializes a new barrier around himself. He then summons another ball of lightning. Locking onto Alex’s Chandelure again, the cybernetic Mewtwo fires across the battlefield. “Lumiera, look out!” the Pokemon’s trainer shouts. The ghostly chandelier quickly floats out of the way as the sphere of electricity rapidly approaches.

“G.W.Y.N., Fox Fire!” Shane commands his Delphox. The fiery fox waves his wand as he moves in, surrounding himself with three wisps of flame. Meanwhile, Shane hangs back and drinks a hyper potion in order to keep himself going.

Dmitri also moves in. The Romanov unleashes a burst of psionic energy, scrambling I’s targeting systems.

“Now, Blaise!” Morgan urges her Pokemon onward. With I momentarily occupied, the Charizard swoops in and Morgan leaps off his back. “Flamethrower!” From opposite sides of the cybernetic Mewtwo, Morgan and her Pokemon unleash a massive tide of flames, completely enveloping their target.

Suddenly, I rockets upward, out of the inferno, all systems back in working order. He glares menacingly at Morgan, and fires off a powerful blast of psychic energy. Sensing the incoming attack with her own power, Morgan leaps out of the way. The floor tiles where she stood explode behind her.

“Gigan, X-Scissor!” Dmitri commands his Scizor. The armored insect swoops in and slashes I with her dual claws, slicing through his chestplate.

A light on the cybernetic Mewtwo’s armor begins to flash. Shortly thereafter, a drop pod smashes through the ceiling and embeds itself in the floor, sending out a massive shockwave, knocking #1, G.W.Y.N., Morgan, and Dmitri back. One of the protective barriers Alex’s Meowstic set up absorbs the initial impact, but it cannot protect everyone. Dmitri and the Pokemon escape mostly unscathed, but Morgan is hurt pretty bad.

The front of the pod bursts open, and a familiar Rhyperior emerges. “#1, it’s all yours!” H shouts to his own Rhyperior. Running up to his foe, #1 tackles Omega, and the two Rhyperiors lock arms, struggling to gain dominance over each other.

While his Pokemon keeps the Rhyperior busy, H sets his sights on I. First, he launches another EMP, but the cybernetic Mewtwo is prepared this time and redirects it away. However, it is merely a distraction. H quickly loads up his cannon with a storage Pokeball Alex had provided to him before the battle, and fires it off. It lands on the floor near I, and just sits there, ready to be activated.

I begins to glow with electrical charge. “ **Don’t you understand? Only _I_ can save this Universe!**”

“Yeah?! We’ll see about that, Jerkface!” Alex shouts tauntingly back at him. She is met with a cold glare. “Lumiera, use Inferno!” Her Chandelure’s small wisp of flame roars to life as she unleashes a powerful stream of fire. I raises a hand and focuses his barriers in front of himself, deflecting the flames harmlessly away.

“ **You are hopelessly naive.** ” The cybernetic Mewtwo forms another lightning ball. This one he throws at Morgan. The protective aura around her absorbs the hit, but much of the electrical energy still seeps through, causing her muscles to spasm, and leaving her temporarily immobilized.

“G.W.Y.N., use Flamethrower!” Shane commands his Delphox as he runs to Morgan’s aid. Covering his trainer, the Fox Pokemon moves in and releases a ball of flame from his wand. Just as with Alex’s Chandelure, I deflects the flames away, but G.W.Y.N. successfully gives Shane the opening he needs. He runs in and helps Morgan up.

“Gigan, X-Scissor again!” Dmitri commands his Pokemon, attempting to keep Shane and Morgan covered. The Scizor makes another pass at I, and lands another couple of hits with her claws. I lobs a ball of lightning after Gigan as she flies away, but the Scizor rolls out of the way just in time.

“Blaise, Solarbeam!” Morgan shouts as Shane helps her away from the heat of the battle. “Get that Rhyperior!” Rapidly absorbing solar energy from the artificial sun, her Charizard forms it into a powerful beam of light, which he fires at the two Rhyperiors wrestling with each other. However, their augmented armor-plating absorbs the attack.

Attempting to help, Shane fires off a burst of warp energy from his warp glove, shorting out Omega’s cybernetics. However, it does little good; I’s Rhyperior gains the upper hand, and pushes #1 aside, then moves to attack Morgan’s Charizard as he passes.

“Not so fast!” H shouts. “#1, you know what to do!” With a burst from his rockets, H’s Rhyperior rapidly moves into position, placing himself between Omega and its target. #1’s rocky hide absorbs the hit that would have been lethal to Morgan’s Pokemon.

“Aren’t you forgetting something?” H taunts I, turning his attention back to the cybernetic Mewtwo. He presses a button, and the Pokeball he launched springs open, releasing another of his crazy inventions: a rocket launcher of sorts, armed with rows upon rows of Pokeball cannons. With another button press, the device activates, spewing out a wall of grenades that fills the air. Many find their mark, but a lot fly right past I, and several even hit Dmitri’s nearby Scizor.

Not even bothered by H’s contraption, I locks onto Morgan’s Charizard, and fires another ball of electricity at it. Sparks fly as the sphere races across the battlefield. It connects with Blaise, knocking the Pokemon right out of the sky. Luckily, the protective aura set up by Alex’s Meowstic absorbs some of the energy, allowing the Charizard to keep fighting. Blaise lets out a defiant roar as he picks himself back up.

“Better luck next time, asshole!” Alex taunts I. Seemingly angered, the cybernetic Mewtwo flies full speed at the girl, but she sidesteps, causing him to collide with a pole, which snaps in half like a twig. “Lumiera, get him! Use Hex!” Alex’s ghostly chandelier’s eyes glow brightly as she summons a massive wave of energy. It closes in around I, causing visible fracture lines to appear along his barriers. Then, they shatter, sending out a shockwave of energy. When the bright light clears, I is left sparking as crushed pieces of his cybernetics fall away.

“#1, take him out!” H commands his Pokemon. The Rhyperior closes in on I, but he’s not done just yet. Raising a hand, the cybernetic Mewtwo unleashes his own blast of energy, sending #1 flying backwards.

I’s damaged form glows as he begins to regenerate. “ **Come, my brothers** ,” his voice psychically radiates outward. The ceiling rips open as a trio of Mewtwos descends into the station. An energy shield forms over the breach behind them as they approach. “ **It is time to finish this.** ”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And so begins the real final fight! This is a bit shorter than last chapter, but this was such an amazing place to end that I had to end it here. Opening it up, Shane's player was still out so Morgan's player kept running Shane. He returned during the transition between the phases in the battle about halfway through.
> 
> There was some great RP at the beginning before the fight began, particularly I and H exchanging words about perfection. Once the fighting started, it was fun but it was a bit sad that Morgan’s Regice went down so fast since this was her first time using it.
> 
> When we got to the phase shift, the GM let us keep all the setup we had been doing for the entire first phase, just so we didn’t have to go through all of that again and not feel like it was for nothing. I even got to keep setting up, maxing out my Venusaur’s special attack and passing it on to Chandelure (which is a combo I had been waiting to do forever). When he had I use Topsy-Turvy on my Chandelure, I literally almost quit the game because my special attack would have dropped from 99 to 18 and my Pokemon would have been completely worthless in the fight on top of all the things I did in the first round being wasted. But then the others kindly reminded me of intercepts being a thing. Of course, then the GM kept targeting me for a bit. It might just be me personally, but I kind of felt like throughout this campaign he let his meta knowledge bleed through too much and I felt like I couldn’t do anything cool, be it use this awesome Kyogre I caught, or try to do this Juggler combo, because I would be immediately focused-fired. It’s like “here have this cool thing I won’t let you use ever.” He literally said “there was no way I could let you go into the final battle against I with a Kyogre that has the ability lightningrod.” Granted, he was misinformed about how that ability works, but still… that’s not the kind of attitude you should have toward your players… Luckily, I managed to barely hang in there, and at least get off a super powerful hit with Hex.
> 
> Back to positive things, throughout the whole fight we kept expecting I’s Rhyperior to show up, but we didn’t see it coming in quite such an epic way. And then there was another of H’s crazy hair-brained schemes. He was vying for it to be much more mechanically powerful, using Pokeball cannon rules to attempt to get unreducible damage against I, but in true H fashion, it failed miserably because the GM shut it down for being busted as fuck. He was hoping to get 200 unreducible damage after all.
> 
> And then we wrap up with some new Mewtwos showing up! Find out what happens next in the exciting final chapter of Spacemon!


	86. Volume 3, Chapter 19: The Final Stand, Part III

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The final battle for the fate of the Galaxy comes to it's monumentous conclusion. The end results have huge implications for the future of the Universe.

“ **Come, my brothers. It is time to finish this.** ”

I casts his menacing gaze over the _Helix_ crew as the three Mewtwos descend.

“So much for being above allies as you so thought!” H taunts I from his perch underneath the catwalks.

“ **They are different** ,” the cybernetic Mewtwo responds. He raises his hand to the descending Mewtwos. “ **Behold, the pinnacle of Creation.** ”

H drops down from his vantage point before I. “And see, that is the problem with shooting for perfection,” he says, locking eyes with his foe. “Perfection means you have to stop improving.”

“ **Enough of this foolishness** ,” I dismisses the Human cyborg. He glances up at the other Mewtwos. “ **Let us end them.** ”

Shane looks up at the other Mewtwos, then turns back to I. “If you claim to have ascended Humanity, and you think this new power makes you above us, then how is it that, even without the forces of the Universe at our beck and call, we are still managing to defeat you? True enlightenment comes not with wanting power you don’t yet have, but with making the most effective use of the power you already have.”

“ **This one speaks true** ,” one of the other Mewtwos speaks. The crew recognizes the deep blue being’s voice as the same calm one they heard earlier.

“ **Your words would seem wise** ,” the green one addresses Shane. It speaks in the same harsh tone they heard before. “ **Yet you are only defeating this one.** ” It motions toward I.

“ **You are foolish to think me so easily defeated** ,” I responds to Shane. “ **I am still infinitely above you.** ”

“ **Why do you resist, Humans?** ” asks the pink Mewtwo. “ **Would it not be easier to trust our judgement?** ”

“The entire reason that the cycles began was that a Human with a lust for power, much like yourself, ascended before his time,” Shane addresses I.

The green Mewtwo turns its gaze toward its mechanical brother.

“We have to stop this!” Alex speaks up. “We don’t have to fight. We don’t have to kill each other.”

“She’s right,” Morgan agrees. “There was once a time when Humans and Mewtwos lived together in peace.”

“ **We gave you your freedom once, and you could not be trusted** ,” the green Mewtwo answers. “ **What your kind has wrought-** ”

“Not all Humans are horrible, destructive monsters,” Alex interrupts. “You can’t condemn an entire species for the actions of one individual.”

“ **It is necessary when the actions of the one throw _everything_ out of balance.**”

“If you destroy all the Humans, then you’re no better than you think we are,” Morgan counters. “If you think we’re awful, power-hungry, destructive people, just look at what you’re doing.”

“ **The cycle allows more to live in the future** ,” reflects the blue one. “ **Unaided, your species would have naturally died out long ago.** ”

“But why do you have to destroy all life just to replace it with new life?” Alex asks. “There are people and Pokemon here now that deserve the chance to live out their lives. Why can’t you just deal with the bad Humans and give the majority— who are inherently good— that chance?”

“ **Because, up until now, Humans have not proven themselves worthy** ,” it answers. “ **While not all of your kind are purely malicious, the majority are neutral at best. The few good Humans there are have not outweighed the potential for harm.** ”

“But, up until now, you never gave Humanity a chance,” Alex pleads. “Let us show you that Humanity can change.”

“We even managed to get the warring factions of this Galaxy to put aside their differences,” Morgan adds.

“ **For now** ,” the pink one responds. It motions toward the battle raging outside the station, toward the Federation and Romanov ships more focused on using each other as shields than taking down the Mewtwos. “ **Even now they still regard each other as enemies. Do you truly believe them capable of lasting peace?** ”

“But the fact that we even got them to work together surely must mean something,” Alex argues.

“ **It means nothing** ,” I counters. He turns to the rest of his psionic brethren. “ **I can fix this Universe, undo the wound inflicted by Cain. Join me, and we can begin anew, without the need for these cycles, without reliance on these Humans.** ”

“He was once a Human,” Morgan points out to the other Mewtwos. “He’s exactly the same as that Cain you hate so much. We gave up power to save the Universe while he took all the power he could get to become one of you.”

“ **Perhaps** ,” the blue one tells her. “ **But you have yet to fully convince us.** ” It then turns its gaze to Shane. “ **While you, Human, have proven your individual worth, we have not seen that you are representative of Humanity as a whole.** ”

“If you destroy all of Humanity before they have a chance to prove themselves, you’ll never get the chance to find out,” Shane responds.

“Why not let us show Humanity the way?” Alex suggests.

A reflective expression appears on the blue Mewtwo’s face. “ **Maybe you Humans, who have turned your back on power, can guide your species.** ”

“ **They have yet to prove that Humans can be trusted** ,” the green one counters. It casts a judging gaze over the _Helix_ crew. “ **Perhaps you Humans have proven your own worth, but your species as a whole is violent, dangerous.** ”

“Just give us a chance!” Alex begs.

“ **But you Humans will all suffer for it** ,” the pink Mewtwo speaks, a hint of concern in its soft voice. Visions of war and Human suffering fill the crew’s minds.

“It doesn’t have to be like that,” Morgan argues. “Most people don’t want to make war.”

“ **We have not seen this to be the case** ,” the blue Mewtwo responds. “ **Throughout time, your species’ actions have disproved your assertion.** ” Images of Human conflicts across the cycles flash through the minds of the crew.

“But we can learn from the mistakes of the past,” Alex speaks up once more. “I believe we can show Humanity the way to make this a better Galaxy for everyone.”

“ **Do you actually believe that, or are you just speaking empty words?** ” the green Mewtwo asks the girl.

“I believe it with all my heart,” she answers. “If there’s a way to do it, we’ll find it. Please… just give us a chance.”

“ **It matters not how strongly you believe it. What can you actually do to make it so?** ”

Alex clenches her fists tight. She locks eyes with the Mewtwo with a determined expression on her face. “Whatever I can. Whatever it takes. A wise man told me that the first step is to be willing. We’re all willing to strive to make this a better Galaxy.”

“ **And what makes you think the rest of your species will be willing? What makes you think they can grow past their tendency toward self-destruction?** ”

This time, it’s Morgan who answers. “Yes, Humans are often short-sighted and dumb,” she says as she looks around the chamber at her crewmates and at the Mewtwos. “But I think that if we get together people who are serious, then we, as a species, can realize that the first step toward solving a problem is admitting you have one. I don’t think it’s inevitable that all Humanity will be bent toward self-destruction forever. I think that if we acknowledge that tendency, we can work to root it out. We’ve just never had enough time.”

“ **Even if some among your species gets serious, what of those who don’t fall in line?** ” the pink Mewtwo asks. “ **They will undo any progress you make and all of the Universe will suffer.** ”

“We punish people who disobey laws all the time,” Morgan tells the Mewtwo.

“That’s the reason we have laws in the first place,” Shane adds.

“Exactly,” Morgan agrees. “We don’t have to let anyone ruin it for everyone else.”

“And, over time, conventional thinking will change to reflect what the majority of people really want,” Alex offers.

“It’ll be some trouble at first,” Morgan continues. “And maybe we’ll have to smack a lot of people in line at the beginning, but Humans are as much a product of their upbringing as anything. Just like Alex said, as times change people will change as well.”

“ **That remains to be seen.** ”

“ **You would be naive to believe such a thing is possible** ,” I asserts. “ **Humans will destroy this Universe long before they can change on their own. I can change them now.** ”

“If there’s one thing you should have learned from observing all these cycles, it’s that you can’t force a Human to do anything,” Morgan snaps back at the cybernetic Mewtwo.

“And besides, change only means something if you let it happen naturally,” Alex adds.

“ **This is a dangerous course of action** ,” the green Mewtwo warns the girl. “ **Humans left to their own devices could wreak havoc upon the Universe. The potential benefits do not outweigh the dangers.** ”

“But you haven’t even _tried_ ,” Alex replies. “If five random assholes like us have shown that it’s possible, then anyone can do it.”

“ **There may be truth to your words.** ” The green Mewtwo turns away from Alex and looks to Shane. “ **Tell me, Gardener, do you see a way for Humans to grow on their own without damning the Universe?** ”

“I’m not sure how valid my opinion is, given that I seeded this cycle a lifetime ago,” Shane answers. “But in order to foster purity and good intentions, one needs to grow in an environment without the negative influences we’re trying to avoid.”

The room is silent as the Mewtwos think.

“That being said,” Shane continues. “On the subject of ascension, don’t let Humans have the capability to ascend on their own. Seek out those that are already pure and worthy, and start them down the path.”

“ **That was the purpose of the one you call Mr. Silver** ,” the pink Mewtwo informs Shane. “ **The Harvester was designed to lead the Humans you created down the path of ascension.** ”

“That is _not_ what I just suggested,” Shane replies. “What Mr. Silver did in this cycle facilitated the creation of Mewtwos, yes, but his actions were horrific and barbaric. He did not actively seek out those who are worthy of becoming Mewtwos.”

“ **He sought _me_ out**,” I argues, his frustration growing. “ ** _I_ was chosen to ascend. To _lead_.** ”

“You were a clone,” Shane shoots back. “One whose DNA was compatible with becoming a Mewtwo. You all were. That doesn’t say anything about your personality being compatible. Because of Mr. Silver, the Mewtwos of this cycle did not grow up alongside symbiont Pokemon partners as they did in the first.”

“ **Perhaps you have a point** ,” the blue Mewtwo responds. It glances over at I. “ **It may be that the Harvester was in error.** ”

“ **How dare you?** ” I exclaims, his voice now full of anger. Sparks fly off the cybernetic Mewtwo’s body as he powers himself up. “ **I’m trying to save this Universe. I’m the only one who seems to be doing so.** ” 

“The problem is that you’re trying too hard,” Shane tells him.

“ **Indeed** ,” the Mewtwos declare, rising in unison. “ **The mechanical one’s path is a flawed one. As for your path, Humans… we shall see...** ”

“ ** _No..._** ” I floats up into the air, pulling the Eye of Aether along with him. “ **This wasn’t how it was supposed to be. It was supposed to be _perfect. You…_** ” His baleful gaze falls upon the crew. “ **You’ve ruined _everything_.** ” He raises the Eye high above himself then throws it downwards, directly at the _Helix_ crew.

As the massive sphere hurdles through the air, H stands his ground, and a giant airbag springs forth from his hair. The airbag cushions the Eye as it connects, dampening the impact slightly. Alex and Morgan manage to slip out of the way, but the Eye crashes down on H, Shane, and Dmitri. The sphere splits down the middle on H’s airbag, sending his two crewmates flying off to the sides.

A mighty roar shakes the station as a massive Pokemon emerges from the broken Eye. Morgan immediately recognizes the majestic blue and white being from her visions when she looked through Time with the Eye.

“You see this?!” Shane shouts, turning to the other Mewtwos. “This is why he shouldn’t have nice things!”

“ **I have freed Dialga from its Human-made prison!** ” I proclaims, turning his gaze toward Shane. “ **Your desire for control is why _your_ kind cannot be trusted with such power.**”

“You’re one to talk!” Shane snaps back.

I extends his hand toward Dialga, and the entire station rumbles again as the Pokemon unleashes another powerful roar. Time seems to distort around the crew and their Pokemon as they are blasted with waves of temporal energy. Morgan’s connection to Dialga through the Eye keeps her and her Charizard safe as the onslaught tears into her crewmates and their Pokemon. Both Dmitri and Shane are instantly knocked unconscious, as well as both of their Pokemon and H’s Rhyperior. Alex grabs onto her Chandelure as she is launched across the chamber. Clutching the ghostly chandelier in her arms to protect the Pokemon from harm, Alex slams into a pillar, and falls to the floor.

The girl grunts in pain as she picks herself up. “We don’t want to fight you!” she yells at Dialga. She concentrates on the Pokemon, thinking only peaceful thoughts. However, Dialga remains oblivious to her cries.

“ **I’m afraid that, after being trapped for millennia, the feeling isn’t mutual.** ”

“You just want to control it for yourself!” Alex shouts back at the cybernetic Mewtwo. “Lumiera, get him! Use Inferno!” the girl’s ghostly companion floats up above her, and fires a massive ball of flames at I. Unfortunately, he summons a barrier and deflects the attack. He then returns the favor by blasting Lumiera with psychic energy, taking the Pokemon down.

“ _Damn it_ ,” Alex curses as she recalls her fainted Pokemon. “Good work, Lumiera. You’re up again, Dozer!” She throws the ball containing her Venusaur as far away from the conflict as she can. It bounces twice, then springs open, releasing her Pokemon.

“It’s time to finish this!” H declares as he recalls his Rhyperior and sends out his Glalie. “#8, use Blizzard!” The icy creature spits out a blast of freezing air at I, frosting over his mechanical parts.

“ **It’s amusing how you still attempt to defy me.** ”  Bits of frozen metal shatter off the cybernetic Mewtwo as he aims his flamethrowers at #8. A dual stream of flames engulfs the Glalie, but he just manages to hang in there.

Coming back to her senses, Morgan runs over to Dmitri who is lying unconscious nearby. Applying her medical knowledge, Morgan gives Dmitri a revive, and quickly nurses him back to consciousness. She then runs over to Dialga, and places a hand on one of its giant legs. Through her connection to the Pokemon, she can feel I exerting an influence over it. She tries as hard as she can to break Dialga free, but she cannot overcome I’s will.  
_  
I just have to try another way_ , Morgan thinks. “Blaise, use Flamethrower!” Morgan commands her Charizard, directing it after I. Her Pokemon dives past I, unleashing a stream of flames. As the Charizard swoops over the ground, I’s Rhyperior attempts to smash it with its head, drill spinning furiously. With a powerful thrust of his wings, Blaise shoots back up into the air, causing Omega to embed its drill into the floor.

“ **Such a nuisance** ,” I says as he takes aim at the charizard. He forms a massive ball of lighting in his hand, and lobs it at Blaise. The Pokemon lets out a roar of pain as the attack lands. He falls out of the sky, and collapses in a heap. With one last pained groan, the Charizard struggles to pick himself up, then falls still.

Alex looks away, trying to block the image of the dying Pokemon from her mind. She moves back from the fray and drinks a super potion in order to keep herself going. She then attempts to get over to Shane to help him up, but I’s Rhyperior stands in her way.

Suddenly, one of Shane’s Pokeballs springs open, and his Rotom emerges. His longtime Pokemon companion is not about to let him come to harm. Seeing Omega approach, the electric ghost blasts the Rhyperior with ghostly energy, sending it into a state of confusion.

Taking advantage of the opportunity B.O.L.T. created, the freshly revived Dmitri runs in from behind, and sprays Shane with a super potion, reawakening him. Without missing a beat, Shane extends a hand, and causes the area around I to glitch out, causing several of his cybernetic system to go haywire.

Seizing the opportunity, Morgan throws one of H’s EMP grenades at the cybernetic Mewtwo, but it merely bounces off and falls to the floor beneath him.

“Dozer, use Sunny Day!” Alex shouts to her Venusaur as she starts running over to him. The Pokemon begins to glow as he releases another artificial sun into the air.

“#8, use Frost Breath!” H commands his Glalie, pointing at I. The Pokemon spits out a blast of super-cooled air at the cybernetic Mewtwo, but he pays it little mind. Floating down to the ground, I raises his flamethrowers and blasts the Glalie once more. The direct blast of flames reduces #8 to little more than a puddle.

I immediately turns his attention away from his kills, and points toward Alex’s Venusaur on the fringes of the battlefield. His Rhyperior acknowledges the command, and fires up its rockets. “Dozer, look out!” Alex cries out as Omega speeds toward her Pokemon, coated over in flames. The warning comes too late, however, and the Rhyperior smashes right into the Venusaur. Luckily, the last bit of the protective barriers Alex’s Meowstic set up allows Dozer to hang in there.

“Now it is time for _your_ end!” H declares triumphantly, pointing his finger right at I. 

“ **You think me defeated? I have only just begun.** ”

“By the power of fate, we shall be victorious!” H shouts back.

Just as he had planned, the EMP Morgan threw detonates right under I, shorting out his damaged cybernetics. Sparks flying everywhere, H summons a massive bolt of lightning, and throws it at I while he’s wide open.

“ **Your power cannot match mi-** ”

I’s words cut short and his body begins to spasm wildly as volts upon volts of electricity course through him. He falls backwards onto the floor, smoke rising from his damaged and melted form. Shane limps across the floor, pulls out his electric dagger, and stabs the cybernetic Mewtwo in the chest, finishing him off.

Rushing to I’s aid, Omega sprints across the chamber. “Not so fast!” Alex shouts at the Pokemon. She waves her arms wildly, distracting the already dazed Rhyperior, causing it to trip and fall. It knocks itself unconscious as its head smashes into the floor.

With I defeated, Dialga begins to calm as the controlling influence has dissipated. Shane sits down on the floor, completely exhausted. “Believe us now?” Shane asks with a laugh, looking up at the other Mewtwos.

“ **Your actions were indeed impressive** ,” the blue one answers. “ **But what will you do now?** ”

“Continue down the path we started,” Morgan tells it. She walks over to Dialga, and places a hand on its leg once more. _Please take these powers back_ , she thinks. She focuses hard on forcing her control over Time back into Dialga, but she still can’t seem to follow in Shane’s footsteps.

“ **Perhaps there is something to you Humans after all** ,” the green Mewtwo says as it watches Morgan’s attempts. “ **Allow me to aid you.** ” With a wave of the Mewtwo’s hand, Morgan can feel her powers flowing out of her, back into Dialga. “ **And what of you?** ” the green being asks, turning to Dmitri.

“If Darkrai was here now, I would,” Dmitri responds. “If we can truly have peace, I will be able to return them to it.”

“ **Very well** ,” the blue Mewtwo tells him.

“Does that mean you’re gonna give us a chance now?” Alex asks. “Have we proven ourselves worthy?”

“ **Maybe you have** ,” the green Mewtwo answers the girl. “ **But you can see, even _he_ had good intentions.**” It turns its gaze toward I’s smoking corpse. “ **You can see how easy it is to fall. What makes you any different?** ”

“Why not provide guidance?” H asks. “You’re so concerned with the forces of the Universe being exploited and abused by Human advancement, yet you do not try to show an alternative.”

“What, then, do you propose?” the blue Mewtwo asks him.

“Why not make an agreement with Humans to guide that advancement?” H suggests. “Let Humanity flourish under your supervision, and if they wind up stepping into something that is harmful to the Universe, you can shift them in a different direction.”

“And if you do find someone worthy of ascension, you’ll know,” Shane adds.

“Precisely,” H agrees. “You get better candidates for ascension and you don’t have to worry about the entire cleansing thing you’ve been doing. As such, you can maintain constant ascension, the Mewtwo population will be sustained, Humans will be happy, and, finally, everyone will be able to research and maybe find a more stable way to maintain the Universe.”

“ **We must deliberate on this matter.** ” The green mewtwo echoes as the trio rises above the station. The remaining Mewtwos in the fray cease their fighting, and join the cluster, one by one.

Shane quickly gets on the comm system to the rest of the fleet. “White, Cenov, Hold your fire!”

“The hell?” White replies. “Why would we do that when we could fire on all of them at once?

“Da,” Cenov adds. “It is best opening we have.”

"Believe it or not, we’re actually arranging some form of peace treaty with the Mewtwos,” Shane replies.

The comms go silent. After the longest time, White admits “If there’s anyone who could, it would have been you. Holding fire.” The ships gradually stop firing on the Mewtwos, and the entire battlefield is filled with eerie silence. 

After several moments, it finally seems that the Mewtwos have reached a decision. “ **Very well, Humans** ,” the blue one says as they float back down to the crew. While it speaks directly to the _Helix_ crew, they broadcast its words to the fleet. “ **We are interested to see how your species develops in the future under this guidance.** ”

“ **Therefore, a trial period will be granted** ,” another one continues. “ **We will observe your development and determine if you can live up to your potential.** ”

“How long do we have to prove our enlightenment?” H asks.

“ **Fifty of your Human years** ,” a different Mewtwo answers.

“ **Once this period reaches its end, we will pass final judgement** ,” yet another concludes.

“We accept these terms,” Shane addresses the Mewtwos.

“We’ll prove ourselves,” Alex adds. “You’ll see.”

“ **Indeed we will. Do not waste our time, Humans** ,” the blue Mewtwo says as they begin warping away to the far corners of the Galaxy.

* * *

“Are you crazy?!” the Red Suns’ new leader shouts at the Romanov Supreme Admiral. “You just expect us to let you take all of zis territory? After all zat we sacrificed?”

“There were heavy casualties on our side too. Many sons of Romanov have fallen today,” Cenov responds to Rena’s harsh words. “We have already made agreement with Federation and we will not accept anything less.”

“You were threatening the continued existence of Humanity by demanding those terms,” White argues. “And you are in no position to do so now.”

While the Romanovs stood strong as the Federation took the brunt of the Mewtwos’ initial assault, the tides turned over the course of the battle. The Federation commanders pulled it together and minimized any further losses while the Supremacy began to lose ground. Now, the two factions were well matched, both in terms of ships and at the negotiating table.

“Now, more than ever, we must end this war,” Cenov addresses the room. “You already agreed to my terms once. To go back on your word now will only invite further hostilities.”

“Alright, break it up,” Shane says in a condescending manner. “Remember: from this point forward, we’re being watched and we’re being judged, so be on your best behavior.”

“All the more reason for you to accept my terms,” Cenov says, glaring across the table at White.

“But this is _your_ war,” Alex speaks up. She glares angrily at the Romanov Supreme Admiral. “One you started for selfish reasons that go against _everything_ we just achieved with the Mewtwos. Everything we stand for.”

“I fail to see your argument’s validity. I am simply ensuring that the Sons of Romanov get what they are due. _All_ of it.”

“Things were different then,” Alex argues. “We have a real chance to prove ourselves to the  Mewtwos now. If you return the territory that you _stole_ ,it would go a long way toward showing them that we’re worthy.”

“And what would alternative show them? That Humans lie and go back on their promises, da?”

“For the last time, the Federation will not tolerate-”

“Honestly, I’m fine with these terms,” Shane cuts in, interrupting White. “We did already agree to them previously. But if either party oversteps their bounds in the future, I personally guarantee they’re gonna have a bad time.”

With that said, the leaders return to the map of the Galaxy, charting out the ceded territories as per the previous agreement. However, as the discussion progresses, they begin to renegotiate the terms.

“The Supremacy has no claim over Sector 12,” White tells Cenov. “The Ascendancy has barely any territory as it is. To halve that amount would have disastrous consequences.”

“What, then, do you propose, Admiral? You must give us something in return,” Cenov states firmly, pointing at the map. “Shall we say… these uncharted regions?”

“Very well,” White agrees, looking at the swathe of unclaimed space where the _Helix_ crew discovered the location of Earth. “You shall have exclusive expansion rights in that region.”

“Then Sector 12 is yours. As for the Outer Rim… I believe all of these territories will be sufficient.” The Supreme Admiral waves his hands across several sectors.

“That would leave Sector 11 bordering Romanov space on three sides,” White protests. “This is unacceptable.”

“The Federation is keeping majority of Outer Rim territories as it is,” Cenov counters.

“I propose a trade then,” the Grand Admiral offers.

“Oh? I’m listening.”

“Sector 9 for Sector 11,” White elaborates. “It would boost the morale of the Genevan people to see their capital worlds returned, and Sector 11 is a larger expanse of territory. This exchange also has the added benefit of smoothing out the border between our nations. You would be a damn fool not to agree to this.”

“Very well, Admiral. I accept these terms.”

“It’s settled then.” White extends his hand across the table, and Cenov grips it firmly. The two Admirals shake on the terms, then depart from the room.

As they leave, Alex takes a glance at the finalized map and takes out a Pokeball. “Huh. How convenient,” she says, noticing the striking resemblance the Galaxy now has to the spherical contraption in her hand.

* * *

Back on the _Helix_ ,the crew gathers on the bridge to discuss future plans.

“Well, I’ve officially had enough close calls for a lifetime or two,” Minerva says.

“If you want to leave, we aren’t stopping you,” Shane reiterates.

“Nah,” Minerva replies, spinning in the pilot seat. “I’m used to it by now.”

The crew gazes out at the fleets as the ships begin warping away. “This has been such a monumental achievement,” Morgan says. “What do we even do now?”

“We must continue to reach for enlightenment! The road to perfection is never ending; progress must continue to be made!” H shouts. He bolts out of the bridge, and leaps over the railing, down to the lower deck.

“Welp, I’m gonna go make sure he doesn’t blow up the ship,” Meta says as she too turns to leave. “...again.”

“You know, despite how dysfunctional we can get, this is the only _real_ ‘family’ I’ve ever known,” Shane says as the last of the ships exit from view. “I can’t even imagine what life would be like without being part of this crew.”

“You don’t have to,” Morgan says as she places her hand on Shane’s. He reflexively retracts it, but places it back shortly thereafter. The two turn to look at each other and lock eyes for a brief moment.

“Oh, just kiss already,” Alex says, playfully interjecting between them and breaking their gaze.

“But, seriously,” Minerva says, turning to face her employers with a very serious tone. “Where are we headed?”

“I don’t care where we go,” Naomi says as she wraps her arms around Alex from behind. “As long as I’m with you.”

Dmitri finishes the last of the candy bars he had been hoarding. “I could use some more food,” he tells his crewmates.

“Better than nothing. As a matter of fact, I happen to know a place the other pilots would frequent often,” Minerva says as the warp drive begins to whirr to life. “Onward, to the best grub in the Galaxy!”

The _Helix_ drops into warp space, rocketing towards new and unknown horizons in a new era of peace.

* * *

## Epilogue

With the conflict with the Mewtwos resolved and the war between the Federation and the Supremacy put to an end, the Galaxy moved forward into a new era. The crew of the _UAS Helix_ went down in history as legends of the Federation. These heroes, who had been through so much together, were looked to by many for guidance in this vastly different time. The _Helix_ crew hoped to advance Humanity forward under the watchful eyes of the Mewtwos. The Mewtwos, for the most part, silently looked on with interest, allowing Humanity to develop on their own.

Of course, the _Helix_ ’s adventures continued. In this new time of peace, the crew journeyed the stars together. While they still had some semblance of diplomatic immunity, the crew returned to Messina in the Astaranth System, deep in Romanov-controlled space, where Alex fulfilled her promise to Leviathan. The ancient Pokemon’s remains were laid to rest on its homeworld.

The crew then set out on a new mission, to travel the Galaxy and destroy the Mirrors one by one, a goal both Alex and Dmitri strongly committed themselves to due to their personal connections to the Mirrors. Once the Mirrors were destroyed, the crew returned to the Mirror planet deep in the galactic core and destroyed it too, freeing Darkrai and allowing Dmitri to return the power he gained from the Pokemon.

Along the way, Naomi helped Alex to track down the fabled fire temple in Sinai space. Inside the temple, they discovered an ancient artifact— a blazing tablet that was able to restore Alex’s Chandelure to her true self.

Eventually, the crew’s travels came to an end. Several months after the battle, Alex announced that she and Naomi would be leaving. Naomi had been accepted into a prestigious Federation university to chase her dream of becoming a journalist. Not wanting to be separated from Naomi, Alex chose to leave with her, and the two bought an apartment together.

Soon, the others began leaving as well, ready to move on with their lives. In the years that followed, the _Helix_ crew went on to live fulfilling lives and become great influencers across the Galaxy. 

With Federation funding, H founded the Primary Research Institute. There, under the supervision of a new AI created by the Mewtwos, H oversaw the advancement of Human technology, making sure to prevent damage to the Universe. H tapped his former crewmates to help run various branches of the Institute. Shane, Morgan, and Dmitri helmed the branches dedicated to Space, Time, and Entropy, respectively, using their previous connections to those forces to guide research in those particular areas. Meanwhile, Alex was selected to oversee research into Pokemon and Pokemon-related technologies, making her one of the youngest experts working at the Institute.

Working at the Primary Research Institue, heading research into Space and the Warp, Shane developed the Void Station, a space station capable of sustained existence in warp space in order to study its secrets. Mostly working alone, Shane strove to research into technologies to combat warp madness, eventually developing anti-warp stasis pods and other technologies that allowed more researchers to join him on Void Station. His subordinates in the Space branch of the Institute also saw the development of advanced warp travel, allowing for faster, more efficient warp drives and, eventually, practical long-distance, gate-free warp travel. Several years after the battle, Federation excavators uncovered a heavily damaged ancient sphere that appeared to have been destroyed by Mewtwos. Using the leftover bits, the Federation developed a powerful AI to run their newly developed flagship, the _FNS Arceus_. As an expert on AI, Shane was brought in by the Federation to assist with research. On his suggestion, the mind built on top of the ancient AI architecture was based on that of Admiral Graves. Shane became friends with this new AI, but something about her always seemed a bit lifeless and calculating to him.

Dmitri, however, only stayed at the Primary Research Institute for a brief time, helping establish the Entropy branch, and then leaving it in the care of hand-chosen researchers he felt could be trusted. After going on to work on several other independent research projects, Dmitri finally settled down and started a family. Wishing to help the people of his homeland, Dmitri began a career as a diplomat. He was the most successful Federation ambassador to the Romanov supremacy and, from there, he eventually became Federation Director of Foreign Relations. Many Romanovs did brand him as a traitor, but his heroics with the _Helix_ crew had serious clout and they respected his attempts to keep the peace. Eventually, he retired due to the stress of the job and decided to focus on his family life.

Morgan also stayed at the Institute for a brief time. Like Dmitri, she helped establish the Time branch and, once she felt it was in good shape, left it in the care of experts that she had hand-picked. Morgan chose to pursue her true calling: working on robots. Over the following years, she became a well-renowned engineer most famous for her MARIA line of medical bots. Morgan also oversaw her father’s care. Her mother had been killed during the Romanov invasion of the Geneva Confederacy, but her father had escaped on a ship that crossed the borders by free warping. Unfortunately, he had succumbed to warp madness and was never quite the same. Despite her resentment of the man, Morgan felt it was her duty to oversee his care until he eventually passed away.

Alex, however, did remain at the Institute along with Shane and H. Naomi graduated with a degree in journalism, and she and Alex got married shortly thereafter. A few years later, they had their first child through in vitro fertilization— a daughter whom they named Ellie. While still working at the institute, Alex also became a well-known public figure, advocating for social change in the Sinai Ascendancy. Naomi became renowned as well as an ace reporter, breaking stories on many large Galactic scandals, particularly related to Alliance corporations. Over the next several years, Alex campaigned for improving life for Sinai orphans and remedying the nation’s poverty problems. She and Naomi founded the Hawthorne Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the lives of underprivileged Sinai orphans. It came as no surprise that the two ended up adopting three Sinai orphans during this period and welcoming them into their family— a newborn baby boy they named Rajesh after Alex’s mentor, and a slightly older girl and boy named Ava and Salim.

The other members of the _Helix_ crew and those who helped them along the way also moved on as well. Meta’s relationship with H surprisingly lasted for four years despite how dysfunctional it was. However, H wanted to remain at the Institute while Meta got bored and decided to move on to new things. One day, she just dropped off the grid, taking the cyber-weapon with her. Minerva continued to work as a pilot, but, in her spare time, she wrote a memoir of her time as the Federation legends’ ace pilot and eventually published it. She made a killing off her book and retired. Dr. Armstrong took a position at the Primary Research Institute and worked closely with H until he eventually died of liver failure. Bill Wi also worked at the Institute for a time, but he later moved on to host his own popular science show for kids called _Bill Wi the Science Fi_. Diane Stone, the _Helix_ ’s move tutor and training expert went on to found her own academy for Pokemon trainers. Adám went off to explore the Galaxy with his Pokemon companion, Eve, in this new age. Hondo, of course, became extremely rich and lived a life of luxury as a legendary smuggler. Commander Rodriguez eventually retired from active duty and took on a role on the corporate side of OmniGuard. Admiral Graves’ resolve in the war with the Romanov Supremacy and against the Mewtwos led to her appointment to the Federation war council to replace one of the admirals who had perished in the battle.

Under Rena’s leadership, the Red Suns were absorbed into the Federation proper and became the government body responsible for keeping peace in the Federation’s Outer Rim territories and patrolling the Romanov border, replacing the Federation’s Pokemon Gym system. Kiril, Luke, Petra, Matthias, and Carmen all remained and helped Rena to run the organization. Matt, however, went on to become the lead test pilot for the Federation’s new single-man fighter project. Helming their new Federation fleet was the state-of-the-art _FNS Marauder_ , a custom built destroyer to replace the _Corsair_. In honor of his noble sacrifice, Arlon was named a Federation legend alongside the _Helix_ crew. The daughter he had with Rena, whom she named Eveline, grew up on the _Marauder_ and eventually went on to lead the organization herself.

As the various heroes went on to do do great things, the Galaxy changed as well. The Federation stepped up to take a more active role in the member factions’ business. Reeling from taking a heavy hit in the war with the Romanov Supremacy and losing two of their sectors, the Geneva Confederacy struggled to keep itself afloat. The return of their core sector was a symbol of hope, but many citizens were displaced. The Federation provided the Confederacy with several Outer Rim sectors and, much to their chagrin, the Alliance was made to take in countless refugees. Due to this situation, tensions began to rise between the Alliance and the Federation. The Sinai Ascendancy was left in a state of disarray after the revelation of the Mewtwos. Due to the pending end of the fifty-year trial period, many doomsday cults arose and the Congregate, the Ascendancy’s governing religious body, began to collapse. Due to Alex’s efforts in pushing for reform, one of the Sinai Sectors managed to improve dramatically under a new government structure, but the other one continued on the path toward falling apart.

As for the Romanovs, Supreme Admiral Ivan Cenov was a highly respected leader amongst his people. The clout he gained during the final battle and from expanding the Supremacy’s territory cemented his place in Romanov history. However, the Supremacy and the Federation became increasingly at odds over the years, and the future of the Galaxy remained uncertain as judgment from the Mewtwos drew ever closer...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I still can't believe this is over! After sixteen months working on this project, I’m so glad that I finally saw it through to the end. It was one hell of a journey with all its ups and downs. Thank you for reading this far.
> 
> Now that that’s out of the way, let’s break this long final chapter down. The battle gave way to RP after more Mewtwos showed up. Apparently there were three possible outcomes, either we fucked up and the Mewtwos would fight us, we somehow convince the Mewtwos to help us fight I (which I firmly believe the GM made completely impossible whether he meant to or not), or they just watch us fight, which is what actually happened. We did try our hardest to convince them though! At least we pissed I off!
> 
> Then that mechanical bastard threw the Eye of Aether at us! H’s hilarious hairbag augmentation actually came in handy! To absolutely no one’s surprise, Dialga was contained within the Eye. We were surprised that he made it use freaking Roar of Time though. It was going to use Flash Cannon on #1 at first, but someone said something. I forget exactly what was said, but it convinced the GM to make it use Roar of Time instead and that move took so many things down. Shane's player had no turns for a while so he convinced the GM to let one of his Pokemon come out on its own to help. Luckily, H brought I down soon afterwards with another critical attack!
> 
> Due to the fleet stuff being resolved by random rolling, things balanced out pretty evenly in the end. I was kind of sad to see that the Romanovs didn’t get more wrecked in the fight so that they didn’t have such a strong position. Now they’ve got half the freaking Galaxy! I tried my best to sway things in our favor during negotiations, but it seems Alex’s argument fell on deaf ears.
> 
> When all was said and done, we spent like another hour, if not more, just doing epilogue stuff. We did a bunch of rolls and came up with a bunch of cool ideas that shaped the fate of the Galaxy into the state we’ll find it in come the sequel campaign in the future. It was really neat to see where our characters ended up. It was kind of interesting how Shane and Morgan were pretty much like the Spacemon OTP for a while, but in the end only one ship actually worked out and it wasn’t them. Of course, if only one worked out, it would have to be Alex and Naomi. After all the crap Alex has been through, I was very glad to see her get the happy ending she deserved. That life she envisioned with Naomi way back in the third part of her origin story actually came to be in the end. I also thought it was funny how we all worked in our ideas for ships that we came up with in one of the various comment threads on the site I first uploaded these on: The Arceus, the Marauder, and Void Station. The thing with Morgan’s parents was actually originally for a side-story her player was writing up, but she never really had the time to finish it so we just worked it into the epilogue instead (although I do have plans for a series that I want to collaborate with the other players on that expands the story a bit by following other characters and am waiting to see if she's interested in including it).


	87. Profile 7: The Pilgrim

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was written well after the campaign ended and well after most of the other profiles. Even though most of it takes place before or during the campaign, it falls at the end of the reading order because the final scenes take place after the campaign. So while the final chapter of Volume 3 is the true finale, this piece is best read after the fact.

Raj couldn’t help but look up as he stepped into the Grand Archives. He had walked through the atrium several times since his arrival on Mechorah, but he was still no less impressed. The central atrium of the Archives stood in the very heart of the Grand Monastery, and it rose all the way to the top, housing stories upon stories of the Congregate’s holoscrolls, vessels of knowledge and wisdom filled throughout the centuries by the monks of the order. Nothing was as impressive as the Grand Monastery’s crown jewel. The immense psionic crystal suspended high above the floor below was truly breathtaking to behold.

Raj took in a deep breath of air before he descended the small flight of stairs that led down to the central atrium. The bottom floor of the Grand Archives was bustling with activity as young monks moved about, wandering the rows of shelves containing the assorted holoscroll components, guided by their instincts in a trance-like state as they searched for pieces from which they would assemble their scrolls. It was the time of year when the monks from monasteries all across the Sinai Ascendancy whom had completed their training made the journey to the Sinai homeworld to begin their pilgrimages, their rites of passage into monkhood.

Now it was Raj’s turn. Years of training at the Ninauli Monastery on Vandia had prepared him for this moment, the moment in which he would begin his pilgrimage and set off on a journey to carve out his own piece of history to be recorded in the Grand Archives. For a few days now, Raj had been visiting the Archives, but as of yet the components of his scroll had eluded him. He had yet to enter the trance that would guide him. The elder monks who oversaw the construction of the scrolls said that it could take some time, that it was nothing to worry about. Raj only hoped that he would not have to wait too much longer.

Walking between two of the shelves upon which the holoscroll pieces were laid, Raj ran his fingers along the metal and crystal constructions, feeling their unique textures and energies. He reached out to them through his senses, hoping one might trigger something. After several moments Raj’s hand made contact with a particular scroll component that seemed to radiate with a strong aura the likes of which Raj had yet to encounter in the Archives. It was a long metal cylinder with an unusually large fragment of psionic crystal embedded in it. Almost as if it was calling out to him, Raj felt compelled to pick it up. As he closed his fingers around the cylinder, he felt a rush of sensations flow through him, then his eyes drifted closed as he fell into an almost meditative state.

His senses fading from him, Raj moved between the shelves, guided by nothing but his finely attuned instincts. He soon found his way to two nearly identical pieces, a pair of cylinders similar to the first, only shorter, and with smaller crystals embedded in them. Then, still in a trance, Raj began assembling his scroll. His hands practically moving of their own volition, they slid the large cylinder onto the base frame he had been given upon arriving at the Grand Monastery, then the two smaller ones. Finally came the end caps that held it all together. As they were pressed into place, Raj’s mind was struck with a vision.

Images, feelings, unknown sensations. They all rushed around Raj.  _Through_  him, even. Flashes that were too difficult to distinguish. Then, through the overwhelming whirl of sensation, a figure appeared. Tall and thin, cloaked in a flowing robe, it took long strides, moving further and further away, back turned. Just as quickly as the figure appeared, it was gone, swallowed up by the Universe. Another soon appeared, this one small in comparison, but seeming to radiate with a powerful aura of warmness. This figure stood still, waiting, beckoning with open, outstretched arms. Soon, this figure too was gone, only to be replaced by yet another. This third figure looked much like the first, but it approached instead of departing, moving forward toward some unseen goal. Then, everything faded to black.

Raj’s eyes snapped open and he was back in the central atrium of the Grand Archives once more. He clutched his newly constructed scroll tightly against his chest, and gazed up at the giant psionic crystal above one last time. Then, Raj strode forward with a new sense of purpose. It was time for his journey to begin.

* * *

Raj sat cross-legged in the monastery garden, meditating with his holoscroll for what felt like the millionth time. For a year now, the young monk had been traveling the stars in search of clues that might lead him to fill the first piece of his holoscroll, but for a year he had made no progress. His pilgrimage was proving to be more difficult than he had expected. He knew that many monks spent years on their pilgrimages, but surely by now he should have discovered something. Surely by now he should have at least filled a portion of his scroll.

After many meditations with his scroll, Raj was deeply familiar with the initial vision he received upon its construction; he had relived it many times since. The three figures continued to perplex him. Other monks Raj had spoken with had told him that their initial visions had shown them locations and landmarks that had helped guide their way to the places where they were to receive their visions, but the same could not be said for his own. These mysterious figures that he saw provided no indication of where to go or what to do.

And so Raj traveled from world to world, hoping that he might simply stumble upon something that would trigger a vision or provide a clue. His travels had led him here, to Khalimuck, a small but well populated world in Outer Rim Sector 33, right on the borders of both Sinai and Alliance space. Here on the planet, Raj had found his way to a small monastery run by an old monk by the name of Kailash who sought to provide monks on their pilgrimages a place to rest and meditate while on their journeys.

For many weeks now, Raj had been resting here. He much preferred the gentle breeze and sweet aromas of the monastery garden to the small confines of the meditation sphere he traveled in. This environment was much more stimulating to the senses and that, Raj felt, made it far more conducive to his meditations.

As he sat deep in meditation, Raj’s mind wandered freely like a flowing river. He soon found his thoughts drifting back home. He wondered how Alex was doing on her own journey. Hopefully she was having more luck in finding answers about her father than he was in unlocking the mystery of his vision, and hopefully she was safe. Alex was strong — stronger than she knew — but Raj couldn’t help but worry for her safety.

Suddenly, Raj felt a hand on his shoulder that pulled him from his meditations. He opened his eyes to see the wrinkled and bearded face of Kailash looking back at him. “Forgive my intrusion, young one,” the ancient monk said, his lips forming into a gentle smile. “I just wished to inform you that dinner is being served.”

“There is no need to apologize,” Raj replied as he rose to his feet. “Your hospitality has been far beyond what is necessary.”

“Nonsense, my dear boy,” Kailash said as the two began to make their way indoors. “All brothers and sisters of the order who visit this monastery deserve the best we have to offer for however long the duration of their stay.”

“You are too kind.”

“There is no such thing. Anyway, did you have any luck in your meditations today?”

Raj bowed his head slightly. “I am afraid not.”

“I see. Perhaps a change of scenery will do you good.” The old monk placed a reassuring hand on Raj’s shoulder. “Your presence here will surely be missed, but you cannot stay here forever. Your destiny still awaits you.”

“Hmm, perhaps you are right,” Raj said. “I will not find the answers I seek if I do not look for them.”

“Good. Good. But now let us put pilgrimages aside for the time being and eat. I am quite famished.”

* * *

Raj sat in meditation, his senses open to the world around him. He could feel the blades of grass dancing in the gentle evening breeze. He could hear the sound of the water of the mountain valley lake rippling against the shore. He could smell the scent of flowers in the air. Most importantly, the monk could sense the auras of his Pokemon companions seated in a circle with him. Lucario, Medicham, Gallade. Their aura’s burned with powerful energies that Raj was able to dial into, channeling their senses and feelings.

This was one of the ways in which his psionic abilities had manifested, the capability of connecting with other living beings in a way few if any other people could. With Pokemon in particular, Raj was able to attune himself to their thoughts, their senses, and their very auras, serving as a conduit to link them together. Through this link, he was able to meditate together with his Pokemon on a deeper level than any monk could hope to achieve.

Suddenly, Raj felt an aura approaching. He opened his eyes to see another monk approaching from the direction of the monastery nestled in the quiet mountain valley. Raj took in the man’s appearance as he approached. He looked quite a bit older than Raj himself, with a flowing silver beard and thick eyebrows, and his skin was a few shades darker than Raj’s

“I did not mean to disturb you,” the monk said once he had drawn near. “I came here to meditate myself.”

Raj smiled kindly at the stranger. “It is no bother,” he said. “You are welcome to join me.”

The older monk nodded, then took a seat beside Raj and began to meditate. Several more moments passed before he spoke again. “I could not help but sense the strong connection you have with your Pokemon,” he said, gazing around the circle at Raj’s three companions. “I have not felt anything quite like it before.”

“It is one of the gifts the Universe bestowed upon me,” Raj said. “I can channel their aura’s through my own … sense what they sense.”

“Impressive. In all my years of travel I have never met anyone with an ability quite like yours.” The old monk paused a moment and gazed out upon the calm waters of the lake before continuing. “If I may ask … what is your name?”

Raj nodded. “Rajesh. Rajesh Ranganathan. You may call me Raj. And you?”

“I am Gilgamesh,” the monk said.

Raj looked upon the older monk in recognition. “I’ve heard that name before. You were the one who shed light on the mysteries of the Warp. Your teachings are spoken quite highly of.”

“Not anymore, I’m afraid,” Gilgamesh replied. “The Congregate did not look kindly upon the contents of my second scroll.”

“I wasn’t aware that you had produced a second scroll,” Raj said with a slight hint of surprise.

“Nor would you have reason to. It was rejected by the Archival Council.” A somber expression appeared on Gilgamesh’s face. “They chose not to heed my warnings and chose to remain blinded by doctrine.”

Raj was not used to hearing such criticism of the order, but he was curious to hear this man’s story. “What happened?”

“The Congregate is … reluctant to accept certain truths. It is why I chose to leave the order. But let us speak of it no more. I believe everyone must find their own path, and I do not wish to alter the course of yours.”

Raj let out a deflated laugh and pulled out his empty holoscroll. “I don’t even know what the course of my path is,” he said, showing the scroll to Gilgamesh.

“I see.” The old monk paused for a moment to gaze out on the lake again. “Tell me,” he said after some minutes. “Does your ability to … channel the auras of Pokemon also work on Humans?”

“Not quite in the same way, but yes,” Raj answered. “I cannot share their senses as I can with Pokemon, but I can connect to their emotions and feelings, and them to my own.”

Gilgamesh nodded. “Given the intrinsic difference between Humans and Pokemon, this makes sense, but nonetheless, perhaps this can help you on your way.”

“What do you mean?”

“During my first pilgrimage, it took me many years to unlock the mystery of my scroll. Meditating with other monks on their own pilgrimages and connecting our thoughts often helped mutually guide both them and myself, offering new perspectives on our visions.”

“So, you would like me to channel your aura, then?” Raj asked.

“Indeed,” Gilgamesh replied. “It may prove useful as we meditate together to unlock the mystery of your scroll. And I would very much like to experience this ability of yours directly. I find it … fascinating.”

“Very well,” Raj said. He took in a deep breath, then reached his hand out to the older monk, focusing in on his aura.

Closing his eyes, Raj could feel Gilgamesh’s aura connect with his own; it flowed with a strength unlike any he had encountered, and yet it was calm, serene. With the channel between their aura’s open, Raj was able to sense the elder monk’s emotions. They were controlled, likely the result of years upon years of disciplined meditation, yet for a moment Raj thought he detected a faint sadness.

Through the connection he had made, Raj was able to sense Gilgamesh’s motivations, in a manner of speaking. He got the sense that this man was in search of knowledge, but of what he could not say. That did not matter, though. What mattered was that Raj felt that he could trust him.

Before he could think further, Raj felt Gilgamesh’s mind brush up against his own. “If you’ll allow me, I can connect our thoughts with my own abilities so that we may experience your vision together,” Gilgamesh’s voice sounded in his mind. It was a projected thought. Such telepathic abilities Raj had encountered before; it was a capability far more common among psionics than his own. Thinking back his permission to the older monk, Raj opened his mind to him and the two joined each other in meditation.

Opening their senses to Raj’s scroll, which sat positioned in the grass between them, the two monks let the energy contained within flow through them. Before long, Raj experienced once more the vision he had grown used to seeing, witnessed once more the three mysterious figures he was all too familiar with. However, this time something felt different; through his connection to Gilgamesh, Raj sensed recognition.

Out from the swirling chaos of the vision, the first figure appeared again, tall and thin as always and cloaked in a flowing robe, but instead of being swallowed up by the Universe, this time it persisted and faded into focus, allowing Raj to make out its features. Raj recognized a familiar face, albeit much younger; it was Gilgamesh.

Now with a name and a face to the figure he saw, the flashes of images swirling around him began to become clear. Raj saw a man revered for his wisdom by his peers, one who was requested to go out and seek more secrets of the Universe. The wise man traveled the stars and returned with a message.  _A warning_. But the man’s peers denounced his words of warning, declared them heresy. And so the wise man turned his back on those dogmatic ones he had once called his peers, and with long strides he departed, never to return again.

Raj watched as Gilgamesh moved further and further away from him, swallowed up by the chaos of his vision once again. The young monk opened his eyes to see Gilgamesh looking back at him, his face calm and free of emotion. “It would seem that our paths were destined to cross,” the old monk said after several moments had passed.

“So it does,” Raj replied. “I do not believe our meeting today was mere chance.” He looked down at his scroll to see the psionic crystal embedded in one of the smaller cylindrical components glowing with a pale light. He couldn’t help but let out a short, triumphant laugh as he picked the scroll up. “When I came out to this lake to meditate today, I did not expect to fill a portion of my scroll.”

“We often find the truth where we least expect it,” Gilgamesh said. “I must admit, I did not expect that I would be the subject of another monk’s pilgrimage scroll … but seeing your vision … I am reminded of my own journey … of the truths I still have yet to learn.”

Raj smiled. “As you said, we often find the truth where we least expect it.”

Gilgamesh nodded. “Indeed.” The old monk then got to his feet, motioning for Raj to stand with him. “Now, come. As a member of the Outer Rim Gym League, I wish to see the bond you share with your Pokemon in action.”

* * *

A light breeze caused ripples to dance across the surface of the lake as the two monks stood across from each other upon its shore. “Now, let us see what you and your Pokemon are truly capable of,” Gilgamesh said as he pulled out a Pokeball from the folds of his robes.

Flanked by his three Pokemon companions, Raj nodded to his faithful Lucario he had traveled with for many years now. The monk opened a channel with the Pokemon as he stepped forward, ready to face off with the opposing Pokemon. There was a flash from Gilgamesh’s Pokeball as he released the Pokemon within. The Malamar let out a fierce cry as it emerged, its tentacles rippling in an almost hypnotic fashion.

Their aura’s linking, Raj and his Pokemon could sense each other’s feelings. Raj did not even need to issue a command. The Lucario could sense his trainer’s wishes through their bond. Pressing his paws together, Raj’s Pokemon focused his aura forming a sphere of energy between them. He then swiftly leapt forward, lobbing it in the Malamar’s direction. The attack struck true, the force of the impact knocking Gilgamesh’s Pokemon back.

“Impressive,” Gilgamesh commented without moving his eyes from the two Pokemon between himself and his opponent. Responding to a telepathic command from its trainer, the Malamar floated forward, drawing back one of its tentacles to strike.

 _Defend yourself, my friend_ , Raj thought as he observed the battle. His feelings linked to those of his trainer, the Lucario moved on pure instinct, raising his arms to parry the Malamar’s attack.  _And now for the counterattack_. Jumping back, Raj’s Lucario fired off a follow-up attack, blasting the Malamar with a pulse of energy, further whittling it down.

Injured, but not out of the fight yet, the Malamar held its position. Its eyes then flashed, emitting a hypnotic beam that put Raj’s Pokemon to sleep. _Resist, old friend_ , Raj thought, willing his companion to awaken. Sadly, it was not to be. With its foe left completely vulnerable, the Malamar struck swiftly with the razor-sharp edges of its tentacles, delivering an instant knockout blow.

 _You did well, my friend_ , Raj thought as he recalled his fainted Pokemon. The monk then extended his aura to his Medicham, his second Pokemon stepping forward to face off with Gilgamesh’s Malamar.  _You know what to do_. Raj willed his wishes and his Medicham complied. Jumping high into the air, the Medicham raised her foot and brought it crashing down upon Gilgamesh’s Pokemon, evening the score.

The older monk said nothing as he recalled his fainted Pokemon. He then sent out another, this one a Gardevoir. Raj wasted no time in willing his next command through the channel between his aura and that of his Medicham. The Pokemon rushed forward, fist coated in flames as she prepared to strike. Like an elegant dancer, Gilgamesh’s Gardevoir gracefully evaded the attack, then unleashed one of its own, draining away its assailants energy. The Embrace Pokemon then moved away storing up power for another attack as Raj’s Medicham turned to face it. Fist engulfed in flames once more, the Medicham moved in to strike again, this time finding her mark.

Not deterred by the powerful blow, Gilgamesh’s Gardevoir approached in an attempt to drain more of the Medicham’s energy in order to heal itself. Detecting her opponent’s intentions, Raj’s Pokemon jumped back and out of the way just in time.  _Yes, you can do this_ , Raj thought, sending encouraging vibes to his Pokemon through their link.

Following up its attack with yet another, the Gardevoir unleashed its stored up energy in a directed psychic blast. Raj’s Pokemon moved like a dancer in her own right, swiftly evading the attack in a spinning motion. She then went in for the counterattack, fist alight with fire once again. Now it was the Gardevoir’s turn to evade, gracefully slipping out of reach of Raj’s Pokemon. Seizing the opening, Gilgamesh’s Pokemon struck once more, draining away the last of the Medicham’s energy.

Without missing a beat, Raj’s Gallade stepped forward to engage as the monk recalled his fainted Medicham.  _It’s all up to you now_ , Raj thought as he opened a channel to his final Pokemon’s aura. Gilgamesh’s Pokemon stood waiting, storing up even more power as it stared down its evolutionary relative.

 _Strike now with Leaf Blade!_  Raj willed his Pokemon to act. His Gallade ran forward to meet his foe, then struck with one of his arm blades. Slivers of grass blades flew up into the air as the Gallade found his mark, delivering a critical blow.

Gilgamesh’s Pokemon was on the ropes now, but wasn’t going to go down without a fight. The Embrace Pokemon unleashed another blast of the energy it had been building, but Raj’s Gallade dodged back at the last second, narrowly evading the attack. Feeling his trainer’s wishes flowing through the bond between them, the Gallade then moved to strike. This time it was the Gardevoir’s turn to evade, teleporting away and leaving the Gallade’s arm blade to slice through the air where it had been standing moments before.

Not to be deterred, Raj’s Gallade rushed at the Gardevoir, blades raised to strike. It surely would have been a finishing blow had it made contact, but Gilgamesh’s Pokemon gracefully moved out of the way once more, then fired off another devastating psychic blast. The Gallade was unable to avoid the attack this time, but he still had plenty of fight left in him. Picking himself up, Raj’s Pokemon rushed the Gardevoir again, finally taking it down with a decisive blow.

Gilgamesh recalled his Pokemon, then sent out a Claydol. Now the older monk too was on his final Pokemon. He still held the advantage in this battle, but Raj held onto hope that he and his Gallade could still achieve victory. His Pokemon sensed these feelings too and moved to strike without hesitation. The Gallade moved with ferocity, delivering a critical strike against Gilgamesh’s Claydol. And just like that the playing field was level.

 _We’re not out of this yet_ , Raj thought as the Claydol’s many eyes began to glow.  _Get out of there!_  As the ground beneath Raj’s Pokemon erupted, the Gallade teleported away, appearing behind his assailant. Gilgamesh’s Claydol, however, did not lose sight of its foe thanks to its three-hundred-sixty degrees of vision. The Pokemon’s many eyes began to glow one more, and beam of blinding light shot out of the one directly facing Raj’s Gallade. The beam pierced right through the Blade Pokemon, bringing him down.

The battle was lost.

Defeated, Raj recalled his fainted Gallade to his Pokeball. He gave the ball a solemn glance before returning it to the pocket of his robes. The monk knew that it had only been a friendly battle, but the loss still stung.

“Languish not,” Gilgamesh said, approaching. “You and your Pokemon fought well. The strength of the bond you share with them is not insignificant.”

“Thank you, Gilgamesh,” Raj said, bowing his head to the older monk. He knew Gilgamesh was right. His Pokemon had fought well. He had forged a strong bond with his companions since he had first met them, through his time at the monastery back on Vandia, and during his pilgrimage across the stars. Together, they would continue to grow alongside one another. Next time they faced such a test, they would be ready.

“It was my pleasure to witness that strength,” Gilgamesh replied. “It has been a long time since I have experienced such a battle. Now, I am afraid that I must depart. I am glad to have met you, Raj.”

“And I am honored to have met one as wise as yourself,” Raj said, bowing once more in respect.

Gilgamesh’s robes rippled in the wind as he turned to leave. He took a few long strides back toward the monastery before stopping again. “I wish you luck in your journey,” he said, turning his head to look back at Raj. “I hope you find them … the others that you saw in your visions.” And with those final words, the wise old monk continued on his way.

* * *

The gas giant Geunchu hung ever present in the sky of its second moon as Raj entered the limits of the city. This small world on the edges of Sector 12 was but the latest stop on the monk’s journey. As he made his way to the market to stock up on supplies, Raj reflected on the day’s meditations. Earlier, he had landed his meditation sphere up in the mountains and gazed down upon the farmlands of Geunchu II as he tried to make sense of his visions, but he still hadn’t made progress. The identities of the two remaining figures eluded him.

It had been a couple of years since Raj had met Gilgamesh, since he had filled the first piece of his holoscroll, and yet he felt no closer to filling the next. Since that time, Raj had continued traveling from world to world, visiting ruins and monasteries. There was a monastery here on Geunchu II as well, but Raj had found no answers there. The monks of this world were not particularly helpful. Even so, Raj had decided to remain for a few days to rest and resupply before moving on.

As he drew near to the market, Raj continued to ponder the mysteries of his scroll. By now he knew that he was looking for people, and not objects or locations. His interaction with Gilgamesh had made that much clear to the monk. What was not clear was who these remaining two people were or what their significance in the Universe was. The third figure in Raj’s vision had looked much like the first, the one that had been revealed to be Gilgamesh. To Raj, this meant that the figure must be a monk as well; of this much he was sure. The second figure was the most perplexing. Compared to the other two, this individual was short in stature and quite slender and was not garbed in the robes of a monk. Perhaps it was a woman, or maybe a child. Raj could not say for sure.

Raj shook his mind free of his thoughts as he arrived at the market. There would be time to think more on the matter later. For the time being, restocking his food supplies held priority. As he browsed the wares of the vendors in the market, Raj couldn’t help but think of home. This place very much reminded him of the markets of Mirthal on Vandia, the city nearest to the monastery where he was raised. It had been years now since he had been back there.

After purchasing some bread, vegetables, and other items to cover his basic nutritional needs, Raj spotted a market stall selling apples and decided to buy a few. They were commonly sold back home because of the local orchards, and Raj desired a little taste of home.

“There you are, sir,” the merchant said, placing the apples the monk had purchased into his bag.

“Thank you,” Raj replied, smiling. He looked down at the fruits sitting in his bag and thought of Alex. He recalled how the young orphan girl he had looked after for a time was fond of them and was always happy when he brought some back to the monastery.

At that moment, something suddenly clicked in Raj’s mind. A piece of his vision played out once more. He saw Gilgamesh appear once more, taking those long strides as he departed the Grand Monastery for the final time. Just as he had seen many times, Gilgamesh faded from view as the second figure appeared. Unlike before, however, new details became clear to Raj. Big eyes full of emotion. A long, flowing ponytail. Features so familiar. As if a fog was lifted, the girl faded into view. She was beckoning with open arms, calling out to him. She spoke no words, but her message was clear.

 _Come home_.

The truth was indeed found where it was least expected.

* * *

Long shadows lay across the overgrown stone walkway, cast by the weathered columns being struck by the light of the low hanging sun that shone down upon Vandia’s Sunset Plains. Back on his home planet once again, Raj’s journey had led him here, to the recently excavated ruins just outside the capital city of Khirpai. The monk hoped he may find some clue to Alex’s whereabouts here, some hint that would let him pick up her trail. It was a trail that had more than likely gone cold years ago, but Raj could not let that deter him. He knew he would find the girl again. He was meant to.

Raj had no idea where Alex’s journey had taken her, and he had no means of reaching out to her; the way of life of the Congregate prevented monks from having access to certain luxuries of modern society that would have made his task easier. And so, the monk had to search for the girl the old fashioned way. It would be a difficult task, but Raj knew his instincts would not fail him.

The monk had a good feeling about the ruins as he entered. Something about this place had drawn him here. He knew that Alex’s father had been an archaeologist, so it stood to reason that some of his colleagues might have be part of the excavation team. If Alex was looking for her father, Raj was sure she would have come here. Beyond the logic, however, there was something else drawing the monk here, a feeling that he could not explain.

It was just like how he could not figure out exactly how or why Alex was the catalyst for the second vision of his pilgrimage that was to be recorded in his holoscroll. All he knew was that she was, and that he needed to find her. It was that same feeling he was experiencing now; for some reason Raj knew that something in these ruins would help lead him to her.

“Can I help you, sir?” a voice suddenly asked. Pushing his deep thoughts aside, Raj focused on the man approaching him. By the look of him, he appeared to be one of the archaeologists working on the excavation.

A slight but friendly smile appeared on Raj’s lips. “Perhaps you can,” he told the man. “I’m looking for someone.”

“A lot of people looking for someone coming through here lately,” the archaeologist replied. “Ever since that Gilgamesh fellow showed up. You’re a monk too, yeah? Let me guess, you’re looking for him as well.”

“Gilgamesh was here?” Raj asked, recognizing the name of the monk he had met a few years ago, the one who had triggered his first vision. “Curious.”

“Yeah, he came by a few weeks back and took a good look around. Bunch of strange offworlders came by looking for him just a couple days ago. I told them the same thing. He’s not here anymore if he’s who you’re looking for.”

“No,” Raj stated plainly. “I’m looking for a girl by the name of Alex. Long dark hair, big brown eyes—”

“Oh, you’re looking for Hawthorne’s kid?” the man said. “Yeah, I know her. She works as a guide for the agency that handles tours for this site … or at least I think she does. I certainly see her around here all the time. Although, now that you mention it, I haven’t seen her for a couple days. Not since those offworlders showed up.”

“I see,” Raj said. “Thank you for your assistance.”

“Yeah, sure,” the man replied. “I think she lives on the outskirts of town if you want to try asking around there,” he then added.

“I think I shall,” Raj said, nodding. “Thank you again.”

* * *

Raj felt optimistic as he crossed the Sunset Plains in the direction of Khirpai. It seemed his instincts had been right. He now had a trail to follow, but he hoped he was not too late. Based on what the archaeologist in the ruins had said, it was quite possible that Alex had recently moved on. The fact that Gilgamesh had also visited these ruins recently could not be a coincidence. Both the old monk and Alex were tied to Raj’s holoscroll, and both had been in the ruins around the same time. It had to mean something, but what exactly was unclear.

Raj was certain that all would become clear in time, but for now he had to remain focused on the task at hand. Locating Alex was what mattered at the present time. He was very much looking forward to seeing the girl again. In a way she was the closest thing to family he had, even more so than the monks who had raised him.

As he neared the outskirts of the city, Raj’s attention was captured by a long gouge cutting into the farmland. It ran across the length of the nearby cabbage field and through the fence which now had a section missing. It was an unnatural sight, as if some massive object had carved its way through the field, tearing up the soil and the crops planted in it, and leaving behind a deep trench.

In much the same way he had felt drawn to the ruins, Raj felt drawn to this trench. It was almost as if it was calling out to him. The monk approached the broken fence and placed his hand upon it to support himself as he looked down into the trench. He followed the length of it with his eyes, and when he gazed up to the horizon, he was suddenly struck with a vision.

Raj could see the cabbage field sprawling before him, yet the trench carved across it was gone. The shadows cast across the field shifted along the ground as the sun rose and fell, never fully sinking below the horizon nor rising fully above the distant mountains. Suddenly, a figure appeared, dashing alongside the field. Recognition dawed on Raj as the figure drew nearer. It was Alex! Her appearance was unmistakable even though she looked older than the last time he saw her.

Then, down from the sky, a volley of laser fire pelted the ground, kicking up huge dust clouds around the girl. Moments later, a ship broke through the clouds and collided with the ground, carving a trench through the cabbage field as its momentum carried it along. The ship broke through the fence and then ground to a halt only a few feet away from Alex.

Raj watched as a group of somewhat strange looking individuals emerged from the crashed ship to survey the damage. He watched Alex approach and engage them in conversation. Time continued to pass. People came and went from the ship, Alex included. Off toward town, in and out of the crashed vessel, and, eventually off in the direction of the ruins. All the while, automated bots repaired the ship. After some time, the ship’s crew returned and the ship began to take off. At the last moment, Raj witnessed as Alex slipped aboard through the damaged airlock. And then the ship lifted off the ground, broke through the clouds, and vanished from sight.

Raj blinked, realizing his vision had ended, then looked up at the sky. It seemed Alex had found a way off this world. She really had moved on to the next phase of her journey. The people on that ship must have been the offworldsers the archaeologist had mentioned, and now it seemed they had been Alex’s means of departing from Vandia. Raj was happy for her, but he also felt his own optimism waver for a moment. Just as quickly as he had picked up Alex’s trail, he had lost it again. The girl was gone from this planet, and the Galaxy was a big place. He had no idea how he would ever find her again, but he resolved not to give up. He couldn’t explain it, but Raj knew that Alex was alright and that they would be reunited again.

* * *

Raj was deep in thought as he returned to the small spaceport where his meditation sphere was docked. His journey had once again brought him back to Sector 33, but this time with a sense of purpose. It had been about a month since the monk had departed from Vandia, and in that time he had been searching ruins, hoping to pick up Alex’s trail again. Raj knew that Dr. Hawthorne had been researching ruins on Vandia and the surrounding systems, including those on the fringes of the neighboring Outer Rim sectors, and his instincts told him that’s where Alex would be looking now that she had made it offworld.

That was how Raj had come to be on this world, a small settlement frequented mostly by Outer Rim traders as merchants, as well as individuals of a less savoury nature. It also happened to be home to ancient ruins. Raj had spent the past several days wandering the wilderness and exploring the ruins there, but his finely honed senses hadn’t picked up any clues. And so, he decided, it was time to leave, to move on the next world, but first he needed refreshment.

Before returning to the spaceport proper, Raj approached the cantina. Over the course of his pilgrimage, the monk had come to find that these sorts of establishments were not only a place where he could get a glass of water, but also a valuable source of information. The space travelers who frequented spaceport cantinas often picked up all kinds of stories and knowledge during their travels, and when they got drunk they were more than willing to share them with anyone who was willing to listen. As of late, they had been proving Raj with leads on planets with ruins on them, planets where he might find Alex.

Raj got a few strange looks as he entered, but he was more than used to it by now. He ignored them and made his way to the bar. “We don’t see many monks ‘round here,” the bartender said as the monk approached. “What can I get fer ya?”

“Just water, thank you,” Raj replied. “No ice, please.”

“Comin’ right up.”

As the bartender poured his drink, Raj settled onto one of the bar stools and gazed around the place. Most of the patrons had turned their attention back to their own conversations, the curiosity of seeing a Sinai monk having worn off.

“Here ya go, pal,” the bartender said, sliding the drink over.

“Thank you,” Raj said, nodding at the man. He then raised the glass to his lips and took a long sip. It was quite refreshing after his hike back to the settlement.

Allowing his eyes to wander again as he drank, Raj scanned the room before his eyes fell upon a holoscreen above the bar. It seemed to be displaying a Pokemon battling competition of some kind. Curious, Raj kept his focus on the screen. It was a three-on-three battle, a Haunter, Sigilyph, and Lampent, against a Hitmonchan, Blaziken, and Scrafty. After a moment, the camera cut to a wide shot, showing the trainers as well as the Pokemon. On one side stood a tall dark skinned man dressed like a boxer, on the other a familiar trio of individuals; two Raj recognized from his vision back on Vandia, and the third was Alex herself! It seemed this planet had a clue to offer after all.

“Excuse me,” Raj said to the bartender. He then motioned to the screen. “Could you turn that up, please?”

“Sure,” the man replied.

Moments later, the sound began to play. “—with a Sucker Punch of its own, but it’s simply too fast!” the commentator announced. “Hitmonchan takes down Haunter  _with a flurry of fists!_ ”

“A fan of battling, are ya?” the bartender asked.

“I know that girl …” Raj said, trailing off into thought. “Tell me,” he then said after a few moments. “Do you know where this battle is happening?”

“Sure do. That’s Jerome MacJabber’s Fighting Gym in Sector 29. Your friend’s gonna be hard pressed to beat him.”

“I see,” Raj said, turning his attention back to the screen.

By this point, both of Alex’s companions had been knocked out, leaving her Lampent to stand alone against two of the gym leader’s Pokemon. “Not wanting to be on the receiving end of Hitmonchan’s  _frightening fists_ , Lampent floats back and delivers a death dealing Shadow Ball! Hitmonchan is  _down for the count!_ ” And then it was one left on each side.

Alex wasn’t out of hot water yet, though.  _Just remember what I taught you and you’ll do fine_ , Raj thought as he looked on. Alex and her Pokemon were fighting fiercely, but MacJabber’s Blaziken was tough. The Pokemon leapt into the air to strike at the Lampent floating above it and the two went careening into the stands.

The broadcast cut to a different shot to give a better angle as the dust settled. “ _ **AND THEY’RE BOTH DOWN! IT’S A DRAW!**_  Ladies and gentlemen,  _in all my years I have never seen a fight like this one!_ ”

After several moments of deliberation during which the crowd cheered intensely, the gym leader waved the refs away and crossed the ring to present the championship belt to Alex and her companions. “Well I’ll be damned, she actually did it,” the bartender commented in surprise.

“I knew she would,” Raj said, standing up. “Thank you for the water,” he told the man before departing. He knew now where he needed to go. He just hoped that Alex would still be there when he arrived.

* * *

Raj could hear the roar of hundreds or perhaps even thousands of voices as he stepped into the Fighting Gym on the sixth moon of Siogern in Sector 29. The next tournament, it seemed, was about to begin. The monk got a few strange looks from the tough looking trainers lining up to enter, but he was more than used to that by now. After all, he had visited many places during his pilgrimage where a monk normally had no business being. Of course, Raj did have business here.

Once one of the sign-up tables was free, Raj approached. “Man, I’ve been getting a lot of unexpected entrants lately,” the man behind the table commented as he sized Raj up.

“I’m not here to enter the tournament,” Raj explained. “I’m looking for someone. The girl who won a few days ago. She is a friend of mine. It is important that I locate her as soon as possible.”

“Ah, yeah, I remember signing her up,” the man replied. “I didn’t think she was cut out for it, but I was wrong. She’s probably gone by now. MacJabber might know more. He knows everything that happens on this moon.”

“Then I must speak with him immediately,” Raj said.

“Yeah, get in line,” the man said. “He’s a busy man. Only way you’re meeting him is in the ring.”

Raj nodded. “So be it,” he said. “I would like to enter the tournament.”

The man let out a chuckle. “We’ll see if you’ve got what it takes. What’s your name?

“You may call me Raj.”

“That’s not very exciting is it? I’ll put you down as the ‘Mysterious Monk.’”

“As you wish.”

“Alright, you’re scheduled for the fourth fight; you’ve got thirty minutes. Go in mean, but keep it clean; none of that fancy monk bullshit.”

Raj knew what that meant, and it would make things a bit more challenging. As he walked away from the table, he thought about what he would do. He had come to rely on his ability to channel the energies of his Pokemon in battle, but now that wasn’t an option.

As he waited for his turn to battle, Raj found a quiet corner to sit and meditate with his Pokemon. He communicated with them how they had to fight this time. They would not have a psionic link to rely on, but the bonds of friendship they had forged over the years would still be there. It would have to be enough.

“Next up, we have Team Brick vs. the Mysterious Monk!”

Raj clenched his fists tight as he stepped into the ring. He hoped it would be enough.

* * *

The cheers of the crowd were wild with excitement as Raj stepped back into the ring. It had been hard fought, but here he was, about to face off with Jerome MacJabber himself. Even without his psionic abilities the bond he shared with his Pokemon had carried them this far. It was like learning how to battle all over again, but they had made it, if just barely. They had nearly lost the first fight, but Raj was a quick learner. He had been pushing the offensive too hard, allowing his Pokemon to drop their defenses. It was the same reason he had lost to Gilgamesh years ago. Once he identified and corrected that mistake, the fights began to shift in his favor, and now here he was. A question still lingered in the monk’s mind, however. Would it be enough to beat the gym leader? He wondered if this was how Alex had felt before her own battle against him.

“Ladies and gentlemen! The fight you’ve all been waiting for!” the announcer’s voice blared from the PA system. “The  _fearsome fighting type face-off_ between the Mysterious Monk and our very own  _Fighting Fiend_  Jerome MacJabber! Will this newcomer claim the belt or receive a  _serious smackdown?!_ ”

MacJabber unhooked his Pokeballs from his belt and punched them out into the ring with his boxing gloves. His three Pokemon emerged, each striking a flashy pose. It was the same trio Raj had seen on the broadcast in the bar: Scrafty, Blaziken, and Hitmonchan.

 _We can do this_ , Raj thought as he released his own three Pokemon. They took their positions opposite MacJabber’s team, his Lucario up front, flanked on the sides by Medicham and Gallade. Focusing hard, Raj blocked out the noise of the crowd, waiting only for the sound of the bell.

DING! DING! DING!

“Mach Punch!” MacJabber barked immediately. With a lightning burst of speed, his Hitmonchan lunged forward at Raj’s Lucario.

Even in his focused state, Raj barely had a second to react. “Aabha, Quick Guard!” His Lucario threw his paws up, catching the Hitmonchan’s fist just in time and pushing it away.

“Now, Talavaar, Psycho Cut!” Raj shouted. His Gallade sprang to action, striking the Hitmonchan with a blade of pure psychic energy and driving it back.

But then MacJabber’s Blaziken dropped down from the air to strike Gallade. Fortunately it was a near miss and Raj was ready for a counterattack. “Sochana, Zen Headbutt!” Turning to the Pokemon that had just landed between her and Gallade, Raj’s Medicham moved to strike, doing a real number on it.

“High Jump Kick!” And there was the third of MacJabber’s Pokemon. The Scrafty leapt at Aabha, foot raised to strike, but Raj was ready for this.

“Parry it!” With a swift move, the Lucario deflected the attack, shoving his assailant away. “Now, Aura Sphere!” Swiftly, Aabha summoned a ball of aura energy and lobbed it at the Scrafty, delivering a powerful hit.

The Scrafty had a few tricks up its sleeve too. “Spite!” MacJabber ordered. Raj’s Lucario wouldn’t be throwing any more Aura Spheres in this fight.

“Blaze Kick!” MacJabber then ordered his Blaziken. With a swift flaming roundhouse kick, the Pokemon landed a mighty blow against Talavaar, pushing him back toward Aabha. Raj’s Pokemon were now surrounded. “Now, Comet Punch!” Hitmonchan moved in from the other side, ready to strike at the Lucario.

“Talavaar, Wide Guard!” Raj commanded just in time. His Gallade threw up a protective barrier around himself and the rest of his team just as a flurry of fists from Hitmonchan came flying in. Aabha was saved from the barrage of attacks, but the barrier was shattered.

Raj knew he had to think fast if he was to take advantage and turn the tide of battle back. “Sochana, High Jump Kick!” His Medicham leapt at MacJabber’s Blaziken, but it was too fast, jumping out of the way. Sochana went flying past, collapsing in a heap. The crash hurt her quite bad, but she still had fight left in her.  _Hang in there_.

Turning back to the fight, Raj saw the Scrafty rushing Aabha. “Hurry, Counter it!” The Scrafty’s fist made contact, doing a real number on the Lucario, but it wasn’t enough to bring him down. Quickly, Aabha grabbed his attacker by the arm and used its momentum to hoist it over his shoulder. Then, with all the force he could muster, the Lucario drove the Scrafty to the ground, knocking it out cold.

The sudden roar of the crowd broke through Raj’s concentration and he became aware of the world outside the battle once more. “With an incredible counterattack, Lucario has  _taken Scrafty down!_ ” the announcer exclaimed. “Now it’s two to three and Blaziken is moving in to strike! It leaps into the air and …  _Ooohhh, that’s a miss!_  That one had to hurt!”

Focusing up, Raj tried to block out everything but the battle once more. Hitmonchan was unleashing another rapid-fire Comet Punch on Aabha, but the Lucario was dodging every hit. He was wearing out, however, and Raj knew he needed to do something fast. “Talavaar, Heal Pulse!” he directed his Gallade. With a pulse of healing energy, Aabha was back in fighting shape.

 _Now to go on the offensive_ , Raj thought. “Sochana, Zen Headbutt!” Medicham charged at Hitmonchan, delivering the knockout blow. Now only Blaziken remained.

MacJabber wasn’t going to go down without a fight, though. “Blaze Kick!” the gym leader commanded. “Take out that Gallade!” His Pokemon moved to strike, but Raj wasn’t going to let it find its mark.

“Teleport out of there!” the monk commanded his Pokemon. Talavaar blipped across the ring and the Blaziken’s flaming foot cut through the air where he had been standing moments before. “Aabha, heal him up with Heal Pulse! Sochana, High Jump Kick!” Raj’s Lucario returned the healing favor to Gallade, but it was unnecessary. Leaping into the air, Sochana found her mark. With a powerful strike of her foot, the Medicham brought Blaziken down.

“Folks, I don’t believe my eyes!” the announcer shouted. “The Mysterious Monk has done it! He’s beaten MacJabber in a  _shocking three-o sweep!_ ”

Raj breathed out a sigh of relief as his Pokemon gathered around him. They had done it. “Great job everyone,” he commended his team.

“It wasn’t just them.” Raj looked up to see MacJabber approaching. “You’re one hell of a trainer, you know. A lot of tough trainers have passed through here, but none of them won as decisively as you did. Congratulations.” The gym leader extended his hand, and Raj gave it a firm shank.

“Thank you,” the monk replied. “One of those trainers is the reason I have come here,” he continued. “The girl who won the other day, Alex … She is an old friend of mine and I have been trying to find her for some time.”

“Oh, yeah, the girl with that tough little Lampent,” MacJabber said. “I remember. That was an exciting battle too. I’m sorry to tell you, but their ship left just yesterday.”

A disappointed look crossed Raj’s face. “Most unfortunate,” the monk said. “But I thank you nonetheless.”

“I can look through the spaceport logs for you later to see if I can find additional information, but for now, enjoy your victory. You certainly earned it.” With that, MacJabber held up the championship belt and presented it to Raj.

The crowd cheered as Raj hoisted the belt above his head. It seemed they loved a good battle, no matter who won, and they loved to see champions claim the belt. But as he held his prize in his hands, a familiar sensation washed over Raj, and he found himself flying back through time. He could see himself battling through the challengers he had just faced. He saw himself claim the belt. But then he was flung back through time again. This time he saw the exploits of another powerful trainer, this one on a team with two others. The young man was the real star though, commanding his Nidoking with such grace and ferocity all at once. He too claimed the belt. Raj could hear him and his teammates celebrating their victory. Then, he traveled further back still. This time he witnessed Alex and her new friends fighting their way to the top too. He saw the same fight he had seen broadcasted in the bar play out before him. Once more, he saw Alex claim the belt. This time, he got to hear her celebrating with her friends, but soon he was pulled back to the present time.

The vision was over.

* * *

Raj sat cross-legged in the center of his meditation sphere, pondering his next move. He remained unsure of where to go next. Yet again, his one lead on Alex’s whereabouts had run dry. Using what authority he had as gym leader, Jerome MacJabber had looked into where the ship the girl was traveling aboard had gone to next for the monk, but that hadn’t been much help. All the gym leader was able to learn was that the ship, the  _UAS Helix_  as it was called, had traveled from the Sector 29 warp gate to Sector 9 in the Geneva Confederacy. There was no telling where it had jumped to next.

Raj had also tried meditating on the vision that the championship belt had triggered. He hoped he might be able to pick up on something he missed, a snippet of conversation that might clue him in on where that ship was heading next. That too proved to be a fruitless effort. It seemed as if Alex was always one step ahead and he had no way of catching up to her. He wished there was some way that he could reach out to her, but sadly that was not the case.

Opening his eyes, Raj looked around the minimalist living quarters of his meditation sphere. For all the technological wonders of Human civilization, the way of life of the Congregate still dictated a simple lifestyle. Over the course of his journey, Raj had found it to be more of a hindrance than anything. All it had done for him was hold him back from completing his pilgrimage.

And yet, despite his grievances, Raj realized that he would not have experienced the same journey had it not been for the constraints he was faced with. Thinking back on his years of traveling the stars, the monk recalled the places he had visited, the things he had seen, the people he had met, and, most importantly, the lessons he had learned. Even as recently as his experience in the Fighting Gym, Raj had been continuing to learn. Reflecting back now, Raj realized that lesson in patience had made all the difference in the battle against MacJabber. Instead constantly going on the attack, Raj had bided his time and played the defensive and waited for the perfect opportunity to strike.

 _I understand now_. The revelation was like a spark in his mind that then flowed through his entire body. Raj realized that the same lesson he had learned applied not just to Pokemon battling, but to life as well. Raj had spent the weeks since realizing that Alex was a catalyst for one of his scroll visions chasing after her when he needed to be waiting for her to seek him out.

It would happen in time. In his heart, Raj knew that Alex would complete her own journey, and then she would return. He couldn’t quite explain why, but Raj knew that their paths would lead them back together. One day, Alex would return to the monastery on Vandia, and on that day he would be waiting for her. Until then, she would be alright. She was traveling with friends now, and judging from what little he had seen in his visions, he knew they would look out for her.

Raj took a deep breath, then closed his eyes. As the monk focused his psionic energies, his meditation sphere lifted off toward the stars. It was time to go home.

* * *

The leaves of the trees in the garden rustled as the light breeze teased the branches. The sun shone down from the cloudless sky, warming Raj’s skin as he sat in meditation. It was a beautiful day for it. Reaching out with his senses, the monk could feel the life surrounding him in the Ninauli Monastery garden moving with excitement. The trees and bushes swaying in the breeze, the Pidgeys playing on the wall, the Goldeen swimming in the pond. Everything was in harmony.

Raj opened his eyes as he felt someone approach. Feeling a tap on his shoulder, the monk turned his head to see Karim, one of the younger monks, standing behind him.

“Forgive me, brother Raj,” the young man said. “I did not mean to disrupt your meditations, but there is someone here to see you.” Karim motioned with his hand somewhere behind Raj.

Getting to his feet in order to turn, Raj looked in the direction the younger monk was pointing. His eyes came to rest on one of the doorways leading into the monastery from the garden where there stood a familiar figure. At long last, she had returned.

“Raj!” Alex cried out with joy as she ran across the garden to meet him. Upon reaching the monk, the girl threw her arms around him and pulled him into a tight hug.

“Hello, child,” Raj said as he returned Alex’s embrace. “It is good to see you again.”

After a moment, Alex pulled away and looked up at Raj. “I missed you,” she said. “There’s so much I want to tell you.”

Raj smiled down at the girl. “And there is much I wish to share with you, child. Perhaps we can sit together and tell the tales of our journeys.” He motioned to the spot on the ground where he had been seated moments ago.

“I would love to,” Alex said. “But first …” The girl trailed off and took a step back. “There’s someone I want you to meet.” She looked back at the doorway and Raj followed her gaze to see another girl standing there. She looked similar in age to Alex, and she had pale skin and hair that was dyed a vivid shade of green. Raj could tell that she was definitely not Sinai.

Alex motioned to the girl, who then approached. “This is my girlfriend, Naomi,” Alex explained.

“It’s very nice to meet you,” the girl said. “Alex has told me so much about you.” She then bowed her head in respect.

As Naomi leaned forward, Raj caught sight of the religious icon he had given Alex the last time he saw her hanging around her neck. Raj was surprised. He knew how sentimental Alex was and he knew she wouldn’t have given the necklace away lightly. This girl must have meant a whole lot to her. Alex was certainly at the age to begin looking for romance, but Raj hadn’t expected her to find it with another girl. However, it was not his place to judge. As long as Alex was happy, that was all that mattered.

“It is nice to meet you as well,” Raj said.

“Anyway, I’ll let you two catch up,” Naomi said, taking a step back. “If it’s alright, I’d like to take some pictures of this garden. It’s beautiful.”

Raj nodded. “I am sure that will be fine.”

“Great. Thank you.”

As Naomi walked off, Alex looked at Raj expectantly. “Well?” she asked. “What do you think of her?”

Raj smiled at Alex. “If she makes you happy, then I am happy.” He then motioned to the ground again. “Now, come. Let us sit.”

* * *

“—And then we flew away right as it ripped the planet in half!” Alex slapped her hands together for dramatic effect as she recounted the tale of her adventures.

Raj sat listening intently to the girl’s words. Her journey, it seemed, had been far more exciting and terrifying than his own. Alex had seen and done so much since they had parted ways. She had told him how she managed to pick up on her father’s trail and figure out what he had been researching when he disappeared. She told him of how she had honed her skills at making Pokeballs. She told him the story of how she had met Naomi … and how things ended poorly between them the first time. Alex also spoke about how she struggled with such setbacks in her life, and how she had pulled through.

“Your words helped guide me through it all,” the girl had told him. She removed one of her gloves to reveal the Sinai script tattooed on her arm.

Raj had recognized the words immediately. “There is no darkness without light,” he’d said, reading the phrase inscribed on Alex’s arms.

“I’ve never forgotten those words,” Alex had said before continuing her tale.

She told Raj about how she had met the crew of the  _UAS Helix_ , how she snuck aboard their ship, and how she had got tangled up in their adventures as well. It was quite incredible really. They had tangled with the Romanov Supremacy while traveling a mysterious world the ruins on Vandia had pointed them towards. Alex had captured a powerful ancient Pokemon on that planet, and she and her new friends met with Gilgamesh there. The very same monk who had helped Raj on his own journey had helped Alex as well, providing the girl with information that helped her on her mission to find her father. Alex’s new friends helped her too, and she had gone as far as the trail had lead, encountering terrifying things along the way.

There was much more to the story too. Alex helped her new friends with their mission just as they helped her. The more he heard, the more Raj realized just how important this mission was, especially when he learned that Gilgamesh’s pursuit of the same goal had led him to his death. Raj was saddened to learn of the old monk’s passing, but he realized if he was willing to die for something, then it was truly important. The  _Helix_ crew’s mission had led them to the Galactic Governance Conference, where they barely survived the tragedy that occured there, and it led them after the mysterious information broker known as Mr. Silver, who was revealed to be an ancient AI and part of an unbelievable truth … the Mewtwos. What Raj learned from Alex put the galactic conflict that had just recently ended in an entirely new context.

But even then, Alex had more to share. After escaping that first Mewtwo, she had encountered the being of the Warp known as Giratina, the one spoken of in Gilgamesh’s holoscroll. What amazed him more was that the others had already encountered it before, and it had granted its power to one of them. He was even surprised to learn that they had briefly returned to Vandia right after. He and Alex had been on the planet at the same time, but it hadn’t yet been time for them to be reunited. Alex’s journey was not yet complete.

“It all happened so fast that it wasn’t until after we got away that I realized how close it was,” Alex continued her story. She had just finished telling Raj about how they narrowly escaped Harmonia, the first of many worlds destroyed by the Mewtwos. “I almost lost Naomi again so soon after being reunited with her.”

“But the important thing is that you didn’t,” Raj told the girl.

“I know,” Alex said. “And I’m so thankful for that.” A slight smile appeared on her face as she looked over at Naomi exploring the garden. “I wouldn’t have made it through it all without her,” she then said, turning back to face Raj.

Alex then took a breath before jumping into the next part of her tale. “After we got away, we regrouped with the Red Suns,” she explained, referring to the mercenary group she said had been working with the  _Helix_ crew. “And we made our plan. They would hunt down the remaining labs while we went to I’s base to stop him.” I was the name of the agent of Mr. Silver who, among various other misdeeds, Alex explained was responsible for killing Gilgamesh. “I just wished it actually played out that way …”

“What happened?” Raj asked.

“We found I there, and we fought him, but he got away,” Alex said. “But then …” She trailed off and her whole body seemed to tense up.

“What is it?”

“My dad, Raj,” Alex said. “He was holding him there … Part of his research on Darkrai and Entropy … but he was different that I remembered. I tried to help him, but …” Alex choked on her words as tears began to drip from her eyes.”

“It is alright, child,” Raj said, placing a comforting hand on the girl’s shoulder.

Alex leaned in and pulled Raj into a hug as the tears continued to flow. “I couldn’t do it, Raj. I couldn’t save him. And he— he killed himself right in front of me. I can still see his face … and all the blood and …”

Raj hugged Alex tighter as she sobbed. “I am sorry you had to go through that,” the monk told her.

“No, I’m sorry,” Alex said suddenly. “I failed you. I couldn’t do what set out to do, and then I gave up.”

“It wasn’t your fault,” Raj assured her.

Alex pulled away and looked him right in the eye. “But I wanted to die,” she said. “After everything you did for me and everything you taught me, I tried to end my life again.”

“But you didn’t,” Raj pointed out. “You are still here to tell the tale. You are still alive.”

A faint smile appeared on Alex’s face. “You’re right, as always. My friends were there for me. Naomi was there for me. I’m here because of them.”

Raj smiled back. “Then I am glad you were with them.”

“Me too.”

There was a long moment of silence before Alex continued her story. “We found even more on that station,” the girl said. “We found the Eye of Aether that Gilgamesh was looking for, and it led us to another world. It was cold and snowy there, and we found something incredible there.”

“What was it?”

“A man. The first man. Adám. The one from the stories you used to read to me. He was frozen away on that world, sleeping for all time.”

A look of shock and surprise crossed Raj’s face at the girl’s words, but he remained silent. He did not wish to interrupt.

“We learned so much from Adám,” Alex continued. “The stories weren’t entirely right, you know.”

“What do you mean?” Raj asked.

“The stories in the Bible,” Alex said. “They got some things wrong. Adám was the first Human, but Eve was his Pokemon partner, not his wife. The Mewtwos created Humans and Pokemon to grow alongside each other, and when they were ready, they were supposed to join together and ascend as Mewtwos themselves. But then Cain, Adám’s son, ruined everything, like the Bible said. Unlike in the story, though, Abel was his Pokemon partner. Cain was jealous and killed Abel for his power, and he tried to ascend before he was ready. He nearly destroyed the whole Universe before the Mewtwos defeated him, and because of what he did they decided to begin the cycles …” Alex trailed off, pausing to catch her breath, and looked expectantly at Raj.

“This is a lot to take in,” Raj said after several moments of silence. “The Congregate would denounce these words as heresy, but I have no reason to doubt you. If you say this is true, then I believe you.”

“You sound like Gilgamesh,” Alex said, letting out a slight laugh.

Raj smiled, then nodded at Alex. “Please, continue.”

“We tried to get Adám to help us, but he didn’t want to get involved,” Alex said. “But he did offer us words of wisdom. The thing he said that stuck with me was that we needed to give up the power we had to show the Mewtwos that Humans have the potential to be better. Shane gave up the powers he got from Giratina, and I even made a new type of Pokeball that doesn’t force Pokemon to be obedient, and I freed all my Pokemon from their old balls.”

“That was very brave of you,” Raj said. “I know how much your Pokemon mean to you.”

“If it meant helping to save Humanity, it was worth it,” Alex said.

“You have grown so much since the last time we met,” Raj told the girl. “You have wisdom beyond your years.”

“Well, I don’t know about that,” Alex said somewhat sheepishly. “I just want to help.”

“That is what makes you a good person.”

“Thank you, but I don’t think the Mewtwos saw it that way. We still had to fight them. But somehow we got the Federation and the Romanovs to work together to defend Humanity. Somehow that I guy was chosen by Mr. Silver guy, to ascend to be the leader of the Mewtwos, and they all attacked together. I lost Leviathan in that fight, but somehow we did it. We showed the Mewtwos that Mr. Silver’s way was wrong, defeated I, and gave Humanity a chance. The Mewtwos gave us fifty years to prove that Humans can change, that we deserve another chance,” Alex paused for a moment, seeming to be deep in thought. “I just hope we can do it,” she finally said.

Raj smiled at the girl. “I am certain that we will if you continue to lead the charge.”

“Do you really think so?” Alex asked.

Raj nodded. “I do. It was certainly not chance that brought us together. I see now why you are one of the subjects of my scroll.”

“Your scroll?” Alex asked. “What does that have to do with me?

Raj pulled out his unfinished holoscroll and placed it on the ground between them. “It took me so long to figure out the meaning of my vision in the Grand Monastery. It showed me three figures, but I was unable to understand what I was supposed to do … that is until I met Gilgamesh. There was more to our meeting than what I told you earlier. He and I meditated together, and that’s when I received the first vision. The first figure was him. That was when I learned that the three catalysts for my scroll visions were people.”

“That’s incredible,” Alex said in amazement. “But how could I possibly be one of those people? I’m nobody. I’m nothing.”

“Do not say such things, child,” Raj said. “You are  _everything_. Very few have accomplished what you have. You have seen things that most people can only hope to dream about. There is no doubt in my mind that you are destined to be recorded by this scroll.” The monk briefly glanced down at the scroll, then looked Alex directly in the eye. “Please, allow me to try.”

Alex’s smile soon returned. “Alright,” she said. “If you think it will help, then I will do whatever I can. What do you need me to do?”

“Just relax,” Raj told her. “Close your eyes and clear your mind, just like I taught you.”

As Alex sat still and motionless, Raj took in a deep breath, then reached his hand out to her. The monk closed his eyes and focused on the girl’s aura, just as he had done with Gilgamesh years ago. Connecting with Alex’s aura was a far different experience however. Her aura was turbulent, flowing with so much emotion. Happiness. Sadness. Fear. Hope. Love. They all burned so brightly, so brilliantly.

Through this swirling mass of emotion, Raj saw a figure appear in his mind, the very same beckoning figure he had seen so many time before. The big brown eyes, the long flowing hair, the small, slender frame. He could see her as clear as if his eyes were open. Then the swirling images that had surrounded Alex in Raj’s visions began to become clear. He saw a girl who for so long had suffered, a girl looking simply to feel accepted, to find somewhere to belong. This girl found what she was looking for in a group of unlikely strangers, brought together by fate to save Humanity. Together, they traveled the stars, seeing things no one had ever seen, learning the truth no one had ever learned, and, finally, after so much time searching, the girl finally found what she was looking for, the family she had always wanted.

Eventually, the image of Alex faded back into the swirling chaos. Raj opened his eyes to see the girl looking at him expectantly. “Well?” she asked. “Did it work?”

“See for yourself,” Raj answered, glancing down at his holoscroll. The large psionic crystal at its center now glowed just as bright as the first. Due to its larger size, however, far more light radiated out from it.

“Wow,” Alex gasped in amazement. “It really was me after all.”

Raj smiled at the girl. “You do not give yourself enough credit.”

“Do you know who the last person is?” she then asked, shrugging off the compliment.

“I am afraid not.”

“Well, whoever they are, I’ll help you find them,” Alex said. “It’s the least I can do after all that you’ve done for me.”

“Thank you, child, but perhaps it does not matter. After all that I have learned from you, what I saw in my vision just now …” Raj trailed off as he tried to make sense of his thoughts. “I do not believe the council will accept such a scroll.”

“Well screw them,” Alex said. Raj could see the passion burning in her eyes. “You are one of the wisest people I have ever met, and if they can’t see that then they don’t deserve to hear what you have to say.”

“Perhaps you are right,” Raj said. “I understand now why Gilgamesh left the order. I believe that is time for me to, as he would say, find my own path. If the Congregate will not see the truth that you have shown me, then I shall dedicate myself to pursuing the truth without them.”

At that moment, everything became clear to Raj. His senses fell from him as a vision overcame him. He saw he swirling indistinguishable images all around him. Out from the chaos strode the third and final figure, striding forward to a goal that Raj could now see clearly. It was the truth. The figure’s features were now so familiar to the monk; they were his own. Slowly, the swirling images began to slow, and Raj could see them clearly now. He saw a man searching the stars, but for what the man knew not. This man was so busy searching that he could not see what was in front him. However, in time, the man began to learn, and the truth eventually became clear. Raj could see now that this man was himself. His destiny was in his own hands now.

Raj opened his eyes once again to see all three psionic crystals embedded in his scroll glowing brightly. At long last, his journey was complete. Scroll in hand, he stood up and stretched, feeling the lightness of his being. It was if a burden had been lifted off his shoulders, one that had been weighing him down for far too long.

“What happened?” Alex asked, looking up at him curiously.

“I saw the truth,” Raj said, shifting his gaze from the scroll to look at the girl as she got to her feet. “It was me all along.” A smile appeared on the monk’s face and a slight laugh escaped his mouth.

“What’s so funny?” Alex asked.

“Just something Gilgamesh said to me,” Raj explained.

“What was it?”

“‘We often find the truth where we least expect it.’”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy crap, this thing is finally done. What a way to finally conclude the Profiles series. This was actually one of the earliest ideas the GM and I came up with for the series, but I knew it had to be the final one because of how it falls on the timeline. I remember the conversation clearly. The two of us were studying for one of our finals for our final semester of college and spitballing ideas for the different Profiles. When we were discussing ideas for Raj, we decided on taking the pilgrimage briefly mentioned at the end of the second part of Alex’s origin story and actually explain what the hell it actually was. We also thought of the holoscroll briefly mentioned in Gilgamesh’s appearance in Volume 2 and decided to do the same for that. In the time between when we had that conversation and when I finally finished writing this, the idea of the holoscroll pilgrimage has become one of the most important facets of Spacemon lore. The concept has been expanded upon so much in Gilgamesh’s profile, in Frontier, and in the eventual sequel series that will be coming.
> 
> This was a tough one to write, but one that had one of the clearest concepts from the beginning. The goal was to dig into what going on a pilgrimage to create a holoscroll is all about, and to show a deeply personal journey of growth and self-discovery. Our initial concept for pilgrimages had the vision triggers usually being objects or locations, but for Raj we wondered what it would be like if his were all people. Then we had to go about choosing who the people were. Gilgamesh was an easy pick given his importance, but the other two were less obvious at first. Needing the second one be Alex became clear soon after given Raj’s connection to her, but the last one was much harder. As soon as the GM made the suggestion for it to be Raj himself, I knew that was the way to go.
> 
> I think having Raj do gym battles along his journey was the GM’s idea as well. We thought it would be a good way to show Raj learning about himself along the way. In writing, I actually simulated the battles to make them easier to write. The initial plan was for Raj to lost both battles, but after multiple simulations, Raj beat MacJabber every time, despite level disadvantage. The type matchups just leaned in his favor more, and his team turned out to synergize really well in that battle format. I’m actually really happy with how it turned out. I like how it shows him learning from his past mistakes to come out on top.
> 
> There’s a lot of other fun details in here too, but I’ll let you find them on your own, mostly because I don’t want to ramble. I hope you enjoyed the read despite the necessary length, and thanks for riding along for this seven part series!


	88. Appendix

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Spacemon Appendix is a repository of information on this series. Here you will find background information on the characters and universe of Spacemon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Appendix was something we all started working on together during Volume 2 at the request of readers. We all did a little write up about our characters and for a time we updated it regularly. Things slowed way down in Volume 3 so we ended up just doing a massive update at the end (even though it's still not finished just yet).

## The Crew of the _UAS Helix_

Using [joy-ling’s Pokemon Trainer Creator](http://joy-ling.deviantart.com/art/Pokemon-Trainer-Creator-401165483) on DeviantArt, the other players and I attempted to approximate our characters’ appearances. Some are more accurate than others, and some have been made a bit more accurate thanks to Photoshop. However, they are still just approximations. Each player character’s section here will provide you with a physical description and background information in addition to their picture.

#### Morgan Durand

(Note: this section is incomplete because Morgan's player just didn’t update it. I’m working on doing it myself but it might be a while)

**Info:** Morgan is a 21 year old student from Genevan space. She is the only child of Orion and Arianna Durand, a well respected ship design engineer in the employ of the Genevan government and a homemaker, respectively. Complications during Morgan’s birth rendered Arianna unable to have any more children. Orion always wanted a son to continue his work legacy, believing women to be incapable of his level of work, and for this reason he greatly resents Morgan. Wanting to prove her father wrong, Morgan strove to excel in school and was pursuing a degree in engineering before a massive fight with him was the final straw in convincing her to run away. While her mother is still searching for her, Morgan has no intention of ever returning. She specializes in Pokebot construction and is discovering latent clairvoyant powers.

 **Appearance:** A slightly tall, skinny young woman with shoulder-length brown hair and grey-green eyes. She wears clothes that tend to obscure her figure, such as baggy shirts and cargo pants, and could be mistaken for a boy by casual observers. Her wardrobe is mostly dark green and black. While working, she also wears a pair of tough leather fingerless gloves to protect her palms.

 **Personality:** Morgan is fairly arrogant, and views people primarily as obstacles who hinder her with their stupidity. Being exposed to unnecessary danger is for her the ultimate stupidity, and makes her very angry. Above all, she doesn’t want to be seen as weak because she fears people taking advantage of her, so she often seems aloof. The fastest way to befriend her is to show appreciation for her work and/or be intellectually stimulating. She is somewhat moral; she dislikes causing harm to humans or Pokemon, but is ambivalent to other forms of crime. The crew’s encounter with the Romanov Supremacy was very distressing for her; she realizes she has a potential to truly hurt people, and feels overwhelmed and surprised at how easy it was for her to do so. She is beginning to take control of her clairvoyance and is noticeably more relaxed than she had been in the recent past.

 **Thoughts on the Crew:** Because of her insecurity, Morgan tries not to get too close to anyone on the crew. The only person she actively dislikes is H, as his arrogance, stubbornness, and tactlessness always seem to get them into trouble. Since meeting Armstrong, she has developed a greater understanding of H’s eccentricities, but is nonetheless annoyed by him. She believes Dimitri is a reasonable person with the unfortunate tendency to get swept up in the excitement of their adventure (such as his eagerness to engage in experiments involving warp space, which led to the Trevenant accident). She appreciates Shane’s intellect and would actually like to get to know him better, but also fears exposing herself to him. His attempts to comfort her after the Romanov Supremacy incident had caused her to lower her guard, but the incident with the warp drive has made her more wary. She feels fairly close to Alex, especially now that she has seen a more vulnerable side of the girl. She empathizes with Alex because they both have felt abandoned and alone most of their lives, and each put up a facade to mask their true emotions.

 **Pokemon:**  
Current Team:  
Yvonne - Espeon (F)  
Hadrian - Regice  
Corinne - Pidgeot (F)  
Jean - Pikachu (M)  
Herman - Samurott (M)  
Roxanne - Binacle (F)

Stored on the Ship:  
Flora - Beautifly (F)  
Camille - Solrock  
Lucien - Liepard (M)  
Sabrina - Stunky (F)  
Aimée - Smoochum (F)  
Édouard - Weepinbell (M)

#### Dmitri Smirnitsky

**Info:** Dmitri is a 23 year old male formerly of the Romanov Union. The son of two occult researchers working for the romanov union, Dmitri grew up on a space station where the only other children were the children of the various scientist and crew that worked on the station, as well as his brother Nikolai. Nikolai was ill from birth which resulted in his death at the age of 12. Dmitri was 14 at the time. Dmitri cared for his brother while his parents were working, and thus was close to his brother. When Nikolai died and his parents were nowhere to be found it was then that Dmitri decided he would leave at the first opportunity that showed up. His parents were obsessed with their work and spent little time at home raising their sons, which led Dmitri to resent his parents. When he came of age he took his first opportunity to leave. He studies the occult possibly as an attempt to bridge the gap between him and his parents, or even to bridge the gap between him and his deceased brother. With the loss of his beloved Metang, Dmitri has become less cheerful, and now struggles with coping with the fact that he killed a man during a period of blind rage that followed his Pokemon’s demise. These feelings were intensified with their experience in the Mirrored Temple where he was faced with all those lost during his life. His experience in the galactic core has forced him to confront the possibility that the ones he’s lost are never coming back. During the encounter with Darkrai, their minds became connected and Dmitri now has some influence over the Pokemon’s aura. With the destruction of the _Halcyon_ , the Supremacists earned a large amount of hate from Dmitri with their disregard to innocent, even going to the level of honoring the man behind the deaths of hundreds of innocent people attending the galactic conference. With Mr. Silver’s identity and purpose revealed, Dmitri knew that everyone, and every Pokemon was threatened by the oncoming invasion. Just one of these new abominations has already shown it is powerful enough to single-handedly take on a swarm of Genesect as well as manipulate Pokemon of incredible strength such as Darkrai. While at first there did not appear to be much the Galaxy could do in the face of this threat, Dmitri knew that he and his crewmates couldn’t lose hope because the fate of the Galaxy hung in their hands. In the end, the crew triumphed and Dmitri was a bit shocked that they somehow managed to bring peace to the Galaxy. I was defeated and the Mewtwos were convinced to give Humanity another chance. In the new time of peace that followed, Dmitri believed Humanity may have a chance at surviving the Mewtwos’ judegment. In his mind, the only obstacle to Humanity’s survival now was the Romanov Supremacy. They may have agreed to a truce, but the cost for peace has given them more reason not stop their drive for power. Dmitri feared that if the Supremacy did not give up on their pursuit of power, Humanity may fail to prove themselves worthy to the Mewtwos.

 **Appearance:** Dmitri is a young, fair skinned male with medium black hair and blue eyes. When his mind connected with Darkrai, his hair faded to a ghostly white and his eyes turned a cold, pale shade of blue. He has an average build, and is average in height. He tends to wear black clothes accented with blue including a black trench coat, black pants, black fingerless gloves, and blue framed glasses.

 **Personality:** Dmitri has the tendency to not think everything he does through, he is somewhat immature, but can be mature when he needs to. Dmitri is Russian. he is proud to be Romanov, but is disappointed with the way the union is run. Dmitri likes to drink, and Dmitri likes to do science.

 **Thoughts on the Crew:**  
Drunken ramblings:  
I like to think I’m on pretty good terms with everyone on this ship. H is just as insane as ever but he has managed to accomplish some amazing things. I still can’t believe after having all that time to research the Genesect, something he was willing to kill to protect, all he made was a means to plug a hole… He did demonstrate real leadership during the fight on the _Halcyon_ , though, so I’ve got to respect him for that. I like to consider Shane to be the closest thing to a friend I have on the ship. He’s shown great leadership in his handling of the battle with the Mewtwos, and his ability to keep H in check is invaluable. I can’t believe Shane gave up the powers granted to him by Giratina, but that act has proven to have been the right one to make and I will follow his example. Morgan is a valued crewmate, though she can be abrasive at times. I didn’t agree with her attempt to kill H and Shane’s Pokemon, but I’m glad to see she’s improving in that regard. I know I’ve done some pretty bad stuff, but I respect the rest of the crew enough to not do anything to their Pokemon without trainer permission, let alone kill them. Alex can still be annoying from time to time, but she’s definitely started to grow on me. She’s proven to be a trusted and valuable crewmate. It was hard to watch so many tragic events befall her, so I’m glad that Morgan and Naomi are there for her.

 **Pokemon:**  
Current Team:  
Wilhelm - Gengar (M)  
Gigan - Scizor (F)  
Ness - Gyarados (M)  
Roman - Blaziken (M)  
Houdini - Kadabra (M)  
Biollante - Flygon (F)

Stored on the Ship:  
Harbinger - Absol (M)  
Kirito - Sandile (M)  
Pistachio - Pachirisu (F)  
Cthulhu - Inkay (M)  
Tribble - Swinub (M)  
Ivan - Glaceon (M)  
Vlad - Noibat (M)  
Squilliam - Tentacruel (M)  
Destroyah - Anorith (M)  
Wonder Trade Fodder - Murkrow (M)

#### Shane

**Info:** Shane is the result of Sinai researchers salvaging and repairing the damaged Gardener Sphere, an entity responsible for seeding the galaxy with life some aeons ago. The Gardener originally was a large spherical pod of ancient digital technology powered by a sky-blue crystal. They augmented the Gardener’s AI onto a man-made equivalent, which then gave itself life in the form of Shane, who has been on the run since. Shane appears to have suppressed memories of being the Gardener, which explains why he could remember Earth, but otherwise seems to remember nothing prior to waking up inside the lab’s computer system and somehow escaping. Even more pressing, though, is Shane’s connection to the AI known as Mr. Silver. Both were created for the sole purpose of re-populating an ancient species over generations of human existence and nonexistence. Just as it was the Gardener’s job to plant the seeds, it was Silver’s job to reap the field, by silently ensuring that Humanity created more of the ancient species from their masses, adding to the population. Having been effectively merged with human technology and morals, Shane wants nothing to do with this, despite his prior involvement.

 **Appearance:** Has the appearance of a young teenager (stereotypical trainer age) with short, messy electric blue hair, and otherwise neon clothes, with a black + red hoodie, complete with cybertech symbols. Ever since acquiring Giratina’s mark, the right sleeve of the hoodie has been torn off, and his right arm has been cloaked in void-like shadow up to the shoulder with glowing purple runes, like a tribal tattoo that glows when activated. This has since vanished when Shane returned his powers to Giratina, and instead wears a mechanical glove of sorts which utilizes the Warp to generate similar effects in a less unstable way towards the universe.

 **Personality:** He has little experience with the outside world (that he can remember) and can at times be a bit awkward or overbearing. Shane tends to follow a strict moral code, alongside the Laws of Robotics. That being said, he has few qualms about deviating from such standards should they benefit those he cares about (assuming he even has the capability to care). Over time, as he grew more accustomed to Human life in the crew the digital, robotic side of his personality began to fade away, giving way to a new, more “alive” conscience.

**Thoughts on the Crew:**

(Note: Shane's player is supposedly working on a post with all the images he’s done for this section that I will include in this work once it is completed)

 **Pokemon:**  
Current Team:  
V.O.I.D. (Vast Oculus of Infinite Darkness) - Cofagrigus (F)  
C.A.L.I. (Creature Abyssal of Lazarus’ Indemnity - Martyrs Are Reborn Indefinitely) - Malamar (F)  
K.E.Y.S. (Kleptomaniacal Entity of Youthful Steel) - Klefki (M)  
B.O.L.T. (Biologically Obfuscated Living Thunderbolt) - Rotom  
E.Y.E.S. (Evil Yellow Enigmatic Sigil) - Sigilyph (M)  
G.W.Y.N. (Guardian Wildfire of Yggdrasil’s Namesake) - Delphox (M)

Stored on the Ship:  
T.O.M.B. (Telepathic Ominous Murder Boulder) - Spiritomb (M)  
P.Y.R.E. (Perennially Youthful Raging Ember) - Eevee (F)  
R.A.G.E. (Random Attack Generation Engine) - Clefable (M)  
S.P.I.K.E. (Spiny Plant-like Innocuous Killer Entity) - Cacnea (M)  
L.O.U.D. (Lord Of Unstoppable Dance) - Lombre (M)  
F.R.O.S.T. (For Real, Obviously Snowy Table) - Bergmite (M)  
D.I.S.C.O. (Dawww It’s So Cute OMG) - Amaura (F)  
D.A.T.A. (Digital Analytic Tactical Automaton) - Porygon Z

#### Experiment #1749XQR5Z-H

**Info:** A strange man with a vague past and an odd mental state. He has spent most of his life within a United Alliance laboratory as a test subject for augmentation-based experiments. There he was able to pick up a large amount of education in the sciences. In the lab he grew convinced that he was competing against the other test subjects in a fight to be the best. He was lonely, with his only solace being the occasional visit from this father figure Dr. Armstrong, the man that could measure his growth. Because of this, H was driven to become the best of the test subjects, so he studied and trained hard. Yet he awoke one morning and to find the lab completely abandoned, with only his Rhyhorn #1 to keep him company. But H would not be discouraged, he took the disappearance as a sign of success. He was the last one standing, He was the chosen one. He was that who would bring about the next step in evolution. Since then, he has learned (mainly through consistent failure) that he is far from perfect. And so his new goal has been to achieve perfection and spread it simultaneously. Throughout his many adventures H discovered that Dr Armstrong, who he deemed dead, was actually alive. After saving him from assassination, Armstrong revealed that H was one among many clones who were part of an ongoing experiment to create beings with cybernetic DNA. This project, funded by Mr. Silver, was shut down before its completion. As such, H and Armstrong then proceeded to finish the project, turn H into the perfect Cyborg. He was now able to withstand many more augmentations, as well as heal from the very electricity that had been his bane in the past. And so H was ready at last. Or so he thought. By some miracle H was given the opportunity to show the leaders of the universe his true power at the Galactic Governance Conference. Yet as soon as his display had begun, it was over, interrupted by the Romanov Supremacy and all aboard except for H and his companions were incinerated. The sudden destruction of those who he had enlightened crippled H, and he convinced himself that the universe was not ready to him. First, it must burn. Yet while pondering the downfall of humanity fate continued to guide H, He finally encountered the true Mr. Silver: the man who had plotted the downfall of Humanity.This downfall was called Mewtwo, a supreme being greater than H himself, created from the fusion of Pokemon and humans. Yet H, with the help of fate, would surpass this being, and until that time had come he would use for the necessary purge of humanity. Yet as with all great plans, they change. After a heated argument, H realized that not everyone who as enlightened had perished. Red Suns, Shane, Alex, Dmitri, Morgan, Minerva, Armstrong, even Billy. They had experienced more enlightenment than anyone else, rejected it, and yet STILL LIVED. Their existence proved that humans could learn of enlightenment, even if they did not progress to it. It seemed that not all of humanity would not perish, as H had thought. And also, the crew had all proven themselves beyond useful on multiple occasions. In fact, they seemed instruments of fate itself, keeping H alive in horrible situations. Yes, in truth these tools of fate were his most valuable assets, ones he would protect…..and should respect. Should they wish the universe not to burn, then let it be so. (So long as the universe proves useful). H is no longer alone. He is not the last of fate’s children. There is one who with unknown goals, but who lacks the ability to see the use of the humanity he came from. He can be saved. But until then it seems that he trusts H no more than any other human, even if that human has a bomb implanted in their brain. If nothing else, Meta should prove a useful asset to help H with his growing problem of funding, a stupid irrelevant concept of old humanity. And so it seems that I shall be difficult to redeem, though with proper planning, a few bad dreams, and the will of fate, nothing is impossible. He does not trust H, a surprising but logical notion. He has tasked H with betraying all of those gifted to him by fate, to destroy that which had saved him, and that he cannot do. Yet maybe he can find another way to win him over. The man truly does not trust H, he has sent more to betray the chosen ones, and they succeeded, though not for long. This hostage turned traitor turned hostage has been quite troublesome, but may possibly be another gift given to him as both reward and test. The new gift, Meta, may prove to be less of a gift and more of replacement. The defective Alex has seemed to have finally broken with the loss of her father. She is too stuck in the past, too driven my pointless emotion, and not able to move onward to the future and use that emotion for proper work. She is defective, but she must be fixed regardless, for she is still a gift after all. No no no no no NO NO! This man cannot be true. What is fate doing! Why has this horrible traitor to the cause of the universe, this all powerful spineless…..ADAM. He has deceived all of the gifts into willingly giving up all of their hard earned power. He has convinced them that they cannot force back the darkness, that they will not see humanity enlightened despite being so close. He is a Horrible traitor to all that fate has built, and it is the hardest test H has faced so far. He. MUST. FALL! He cannot be felled. It seems fate is kind though, for even in the face of tests ignored it moves forward. The gifts are themselves again and the war is coming sooner than ever. H does not understand how or why it has happened, but somehow they are fighting again. And so I has fallen. He has fallen to the same woes that once plagued H. He has succumbed to the fantasy of perfection and lack of trust. And so the treaty has been made, it seems that old human force of nature was right to avoid conflict to some degree, though in the wrong way. But now a new dawn has appeared, Humans will not only be safe to improve, but be guided by those who created all of which we seek knowledge in. It is certain now, Humanity is progressing towards their next evolutionary stage, one planetary empire at a time.

 **Appearance:** Scrawny in build, but heavy in weight (due to metal). 300lb man 5’ 8’’ tall, short, spiky, metallic blonde hair, and stark green eyes dazzling with electricity. He wears nothing but boxers, white gloves, and a long, luxurious, pearl-white armored lab coat, of which he has 8. The only adornment on H is a small circular golden pin over his heart of unknown origin. Additionally, though H has modified his body multiple times through robotic augmentation, due to the recent experiment they have been integrated into his body as well as changed it. His legs now seamlessly mesh with his black boots. His skin remains smooth, though it is colder and harder than basic flesh. His hands, though often covered by his gloves, have two fleshy apertures in their palms that also fit together seamlessly, allowing them to be practically invisible unless they are open. Finally, as a result of the augmentation is that his bones now seem to slightly glow with light from time to time, though outside of darkness it is difficult to see. Oh, and his skin is now a pale green.

 **Personality:** Arrogant, confident to a fault, self-centered, somewhat mentally unstable, and incredibly curious about anything that could make him stronger. Willing to do anything to achieve his goal of perfection, for his perfection shall perfect the universe. Though he has improved a great deal, he still believes he can climb to higher heights.

 **Thoughts on the Crew:**  
Fate’s Gifts  
Morgan - Fate realized for self  
Role: Realism  
Uses:

  * Keeps crew in line when she is in line
  * Keeps everything grounded in dull, over-emotional reality (sadly still necessary at times)
  * High skill in robotics (Ironically)
  * Surprisingly good Skills when working with the unenlightened



Cons:

  * Over-Emotional to a fault
  * Predictably Unpredictable… leads to poor growth
  * Prone to Heavy Emotion-related Interference with experiments
  * Limiting and antagonizing voice for personal cause



Dmitri - Fate realized?  
Role: Ally  
Uses:

  * Fantastic Social Negotiation Skills
  * Psychic powers
  * Lack of absolute concern for morals (sometimes)
  * ~~Violent Tendencies~~ Stabilized
  * ~~Mark of unknown power~~



Cons:

  * Unreliable (negatively affects violent tendencies)
  * Gaining ground in morality
  * Will Steal any Pokemon he can when given the chance. (may be a use)
  * Semi-Unanalyzable emotional state (at least balanced)
  * ~~Mark of unknown power~~



Shane - Fate realized for use  
Role: Rival  
Uses:

  * Rivalry - The Supreme Testing Ground (What better to test against than your maker?)
  * Lab Assistant
  * Powers have wide uses
  * Has social control over other crew member (Particularly Morgan)



Cons:

  * Sissy Plant Robot
  * Potential Usurper
  * Sides with Morality too often (Though this now makes sense)
  * Powers have wide uses
  * Caring and sometimes over-emotional



Alex - Fate not yet realized  
Role: Ultimate Wildcard  
Uses:

  * Matter-ball information and case understanding
  * Asks questions
  * Stealth Skills
  * ~~Leviathan control  
~~
  * Differences resolved (for now)



Cons:

  * Thief
  * Ignorant
  * Too Close to Morgan - Inheriting her emotions
  * Not Unconscious (No longer an issue?)



**Pokemon:**  
Current Team:  
#1 - Rhyperior (M)  
#4 - Trevenant (M)  
#6 - Helioptile (M)  
#7 - Altaria (M)  
#9 - Floatzel (F)  
#10 - Togekiss (M)

Stored on the Ship:  
#11 - Bidoof (M)  
#12 - Marill (M)  
#Heaty - Heaty The Heat Suit (Not actually a Pokemon)

#### Alexandria Hawthorne - Played by DisturbedShadow

**Info:** Alexandria Hawthorne is a quirky 17 year old girl from the planet Vandia within the Sinai Ascendancy. She is the illegitimate daughter of renowned Genevan archaeologist Robert Hawthorne and an unknown Sinai woman who died in childbirth. Robert vanished mysteriously in the ruins he was investigating when Alex was only 4 years old and she has been pretty much living on her own ever since, moving around and never staying in one place very long. She had many places she called home, and people she relied on, but she had to move on for one reason or another. She spent a few years living with a gang of street kids, where she really learned how to survive on the streets, but they abandoned her when the local police found their hideout. Afterwards, she got really sick and would have died if she had not been found lying in the road by a monk named Raj. Raj nursed Alex back to health and allowed her to stay in the monastery where he lived. At the monastery, she learned a lot about history, Sinai religion, and Pokemon. However, she also struggled with depression and attempted suicide multiple times. If not for Raj’s intervention, Alex would have successfully taken her own life. After her recovery, Alex vowed to find out what happened to her father. Her search lead her back to her childhood home where she found many of her father’s old files that revealed he was searching for an artifact known as “the Mirror.” Believing that this clue would lead her to her father, Alex made it her goal to find the Mirror. Unfortunately, she hit a dead end as she had no way to leave Vandia. Alex began to slip back into depression over the next few years, and began fighting thugs and other criminals on the streets to keep herself going. However, this lead her to many dangerous situations that ultimately lead to her giving it up. The last fight was to save an Alliance girl named Naomi Pierce who was on Vandia with her father, an important businessman from the Alliance world Harmonia who had come to Vandia to make shady business deals. Alex and Naomi became fast friends after Alex saved her, and Alex fell madly in love with her. Much to Alex’s dismay, when she confessed her feelings, Naomi revealed that she was in love with someone else. In a desperate attempt to change Naomi’s mind, Alex ended up pushing her away instead. Alex never saw her again before she returned to Harmonia with her father. Alex had been willing to give up her search for her own father to stay with Naomi, but without her, Alex’s resolve to find her father was strengthened. About a year later, Alex snuck aboard the _Helix_ when the ship crash-landed on Vandia, believing the ship’s crew to be her best bet in finding out what happened to her father. While Alex was not welcomed by the crew at first, she has proven herself to them to be an expert on Pokeballs and has shown a surprisingly strong knowledge of technology. Over the course of her journey aboard the _Helix_ , Alex has grown and changed as a person, more so than at any other point in her life. She has struggled to cope with horrific things that she’s experienced, but at the same time, she has also formed a strong bond with her crewmates and finally has a place she can call home. The _Helix_ ’s travels even brought Alex to Harmonia, where she was reunited with Naomi, who revealed that she regretted leaving her on Vandia, and they began a romantic relationship. Eventually, Alex found her father but he ended up killing himself in front of her, afraid of his own daughter and unable to cope with being a parent. If not for Naomi, Alex would have killed herself but, having survived, Alex is now a stronger individual. Additionally, Alex was exposed to raw warp energy when Shane brought the _Helix_ into the Void, which granted her the ability to perceive the precise dimensions and measurements of objects within visual range. Meeting and conversing with Adám, a man frozen in time from the first cycle and integral to the Sinai Bible, has also changed Alex’s outlook on life. His very existence has confirmed, as least partially, the truth of the religious stories she never really believed in. Adám’s teachings have also convinced Alex to release her Pokemon from the control of their Pokeballs, giving them the choice to leave. She believes that the strength of the bond she shares with them will keep them together. This held true for all of her Pokemon except for Leviathan, the ancient and Powerful creature she captured on Messina. However, Leviathan agreed to help Alex in the final battle against the Mewtwos on the promise that she would bring him back to his home. Sadly, the Pokemon did not survive the battle. Alex was heartbroken at first, but has since come to terms with Leviathan’s death. Now that they have achieved peace with the Mewtwos, Alex now looks toward the future and the life she hopes to build with Naomi.

 **Appearance:** Alex is a short, lightweight, slender framed teenaged girl standing at only 5’2” and weighing about 100 pounds. She has long, dark hair which she typically keeps in a loose ponytail, although her messy bangs tend to hang down in her face. She has big brown eyes with a X-shaped scar on her cheek just under the left one. Alex has a light tannish skin tone and her mixed racial and ethnic background is quite apparent in her facial features. She is half Genevan and the other half is a mix of various Sinai ethnicities, predominantly Indian and Arabian. She has a quote written in decorative Sinai writing tattooed on her right forearm. She also has a scar on each wrist from her first suicide attempt. She typically wears a loose-fitting top over a tank-top, tight jeans, a pair of long fingerless gloves that cover her forearms up to the elbow, thus hiding her scars and her tattoo, and a durable pair of black boots (which are definitely not leather because wearing Miltank hide is just plain wrong).

 **Personality:** Alex’s rough life experiences have dramatically shaped her personality. She is impulsive, hyperactive, and immature, often pulling pranks or making jokes and saying or doing things without thinking them through. Due to too much unsupervised exposure to movies and television, she will often devise wild conspiracy theories to explain things. Alex is also very curious and questioning which often leads to her coming off as annoying. Her bad experiences with other people have led her to become very close with her Pokemon. To her, cruelty to Pokemon is one of the worst offenses. She is also a vegetarian because she doesn’t believe in eating Pokemon. Alex has also developed severe emotional problems over the years. She is extremely paranoid, struggles with depression, doesn’t deal well with other people, has a deep-seated fear of abandonment and a near-inability to trust anyone, and at one point in her life attempted suicide several times. Deep down, Alex is a very sensitive, caring person and a hopeless romantic, but she is afraid to show that side of herself to anyone. In order to cope with her struggles, Alex dedicated herself to finding her father, believing such a goal to work toward would keep her from slipping back into depression’s arms. She also put on a happy outward appearance as a facade, hiding away her problems within. However, after finding her father, learning the truth about him, and watching him kill himself in front of her, that facade was completely destroyed. Alex was left devastated and emotionally wrecked, and once again attempted suicide. Ultimately, Naomi’s love saved her and made her realize that there are people she would hurt by ending her own life. Alex has since dedicated herself to protecting the ones she cares about and ensuring a safe future for them, even at the cost of her own well being. She has let go of her impulsive, sometimes selfish tendencies and has become a more serious, mature, and determined person. Now that some time has passed, Alex has begun to come to terms with her father’s fate and move on with her life. Now surrounded by lifelong friends and her true love, for the first time in her life Alex is truly happy and feels comfortable letting her true self shine through.

 **Thoughts on the Crew:**  
**~~The Crew~~** **My New ~~Friends~~ ****Family:**  
Morgan seems like the leader of the crew. She’s the older sister I always wish I had. We fight sometimes and she can be kind of a bitch but I think she has everyone’s best interests at heart. I call her Ms. Bossypants because she can be kind of bossy. She got powers from a Pokemon called Dialga inside the Eye of Aether, but only for a little while. She’s the only one on the ship besides Naomi who knows about the things I’ve done to myself… I don’t think anyone else would understand...

Shane is cool. I call him Blue because he has blue hair, _obviously_. He’s actually the Gardener, what’s left of it anyway. He’s an AI, but he’s a good guy. The scientists who made him were not very good people, but they made him better. When he was just the Gardener he was part of an evil plan. Now he’s trying to stop it like us. A Pokemon called Giratina gave him a magic tattoo with superpowers but he gave it back.

Dmitri is a badass Romanov who kills mean people who hurt Pokemon. He fights for _justice_ like some kind of Pokemon Avenger! I don’t think he likes me very much... On the Mirror planet he gained a connection with a scary Pokemon called Darkrai that let him affect people’s minds, but he got rid of it eventually.

H is a crazy robot-man. I call him Inspector Gizmo because has lightning powers and extendo-legs. He tried to kill me once, and I tried to kill him once. We don’t get along very well but we accepted that we had to work together in order to save the Galaxy a long time ago. We mostly stay out of each other’s business now.

The pilot is named Minerva. She’s cool and has _attitude_. She doesn’t say much. I think she’s secretly a vampire, but I haven’t been able to prove it yet.

Doc is the guy who made H. He’s smart and knows about science and stuff, but he’s also a drunk. Why didn’t he make H nicer? It’s not fair that a jerkface like H got to save his dad but I couldn’t! >:(

Bill is some kind of Pokemon breeder scientist person. He helps make cute baby Pokemon.

Diane is a Pokemon mentor who can teach Pokemon to use cool new moves and show us better ways to train our Pokemon! She’s helped make all my Pokemon stronger!

Meta is a super amazing hacker who was working with Gilgamesh and some other guys, but she was captured by I. He put a bomb in her head and tried to make her steal from us! She got away, but we caught her and then took the bomb out. Then she teamed up with us to get payback against I!

I’m so glad Naomi is here! We were reunited on Harmonia just in time. The first Mewtwo came and destroyed Harmonia but she escaped with us! She told me she realized that leaving me behind on Vandia was the biggest mistake she ever made. Now we’re together at last, just like I’ve always dreamed. I love her and I want to spend the rest of my life with her. <3 <3

(Note: I’ve treated this section like excerpts from Alex’s journal. You can find Alex's full journal in an upcoming Appendix chapter)

 **Pokemon:**  
Current Team:  
Ebony - Umbreon (F)  
Lumiera - Chandelure (F)  
Anubis - Lucario (M)  
Loki - Meowstic (M)  
Dozer - Venusaur (M)  
Dynamo - Eelektross (M)

Stored on the Ship:  
Elsa - Froslass (F)  
Rocket - Zigzagoon (M)  
Diablo - Houndoom (M)  
Okuma - Joltik (M)  
Fluffy - Mareep (M)  
Shen - Shellder (F)  
Coele - Relicanth (F)

## Other Important Characters

Arlon Jett - A reputable Genevan bounty hunter hailing from the New Britain colony world Heyton. He was a longtime member of the team of bounty hunters known as the Red Suns before he was framed for their former leader Lars Rickets’ murder by fellow member Devlin Garth. In order to survive, Arlon faked his own death and spent several months lying low before joining up with the crew of the _UAS Helix_. During his time with them, Arlon served as both the ship’s pilot and de facto leader of the team. With the crew’s help, Arlon was able to clear his name and rejoin the Red Suns which had since become a pirate organization. Working with a team of allies both new and old, he rid the Red Suns of unsavory elements and reformed the organization into an elite band of mercenaries under his leadership with the secret goal of uncovering Mr. Silver’s organization. In the following months, Arlon maintained contact with the _Helix_ and provided the crew with leads and intel, as well as occasionally recruiting them to help with big operations. Arlon was a tactful leader in both combat and espionage, a skilled Pokemon trainer, and a powerful ally for the crew of the _UAS Helix_. He ultimately sacrificed his life to destroy one of the Mewtwos, proving that they can be killed, and was honored as a hero.

The Red Suns - The Red Suns are a band of mercenaries led by Arlon Jett. The Red Suns were founded as a team of bounty hunters by Lars Rickets. Rickets was murdered during a job gone bad on Parisia by one of his own team, Devlin Garth, and Arlon was framed for it. Under Garth’s control the Red Suns became a ruthless band of pirates, expanding beyond bounty hunting into many illegal activities. Arlon eventually cleared his name and ousted Garth, then spent several months working to rebuild the Red Suns as an elite band of mercenaries with the goal of uncovering Mr. Silver’s operations. While the Red Suns were mostly hired mercs, Arlon relied on a team of trusted lieutenants: Rena Bourdeaux, a skilled psionic sniper from the Genevan world Parisia with an affinity for Psychic type Pokemon with whom he was romantically involved; Kiril Zhukov, a large, battle-seasoned Romanov and an expert on explosives; Luke Anderson, a former Federation marine with a respectable service record both as a marine and a mercenary; and Petra Azarov, a skilled Romanov bounty hunter and one of Arlon’s oldest friends. Additionally, several other members of the Red Suns proved themselves to be loyal and reliable: Matt Suzuki, a young, Alliance-born pilot who was handpicked by Arlon to fly the _UAS Corsair_ , the Red Suns’ frigate; Matthias Antoniou, a skilled Genevan hacker from the planet Athína; and Carmen Martinez, a fiery-tempered Alliance mercenary with excellent combat capabilities. Upon Arlon’s death, the other lieutenants chose Rena to continue leading the Red Suns.

Meta - A young hacker prodigy from the Romanov world Xiaou with a strong interest in technology. She was working with Gilgamesh, Aarn Hondo, and Samuel Rodriguez to obtain the artifact known as the Eye of Aether, but she was captured by I. I put a bomb in her head and forced her to steal data from the Helix. After she escaped the _Helix_ , the ship’s crew and the Red Suns tracked her down, and removed the bomb. Since then, she has joined the crew of the _Helix_ and set up a cyber-warfare suite on the ship. In addition to running the cyber-warfare suite, Meta also worked closely with H and Shane on several projects. She even ended up in some semblance of a romantic relationship with H.

Naomi Pierce - A 17 year-old girl from the Alliance planet Harmonia, and daughter of Jonathan Pierce, CEO of ASI Consolidated, the largest corporation in the Alliance. She originally met Alex on Vandia when they were both 15 when she traveled to the Sinai planet, accompanying her father on business. Alex saved Naomi from a street thug who was attacking her and the two became very close friends. Alex showed Naomi a world of fun and new experiences and opened her eyes to Human suffering she never experienced in her rich and sheltered life. During their time together, Naomi developed strong feelings for Alex but tried to hide them, even from herself, because she thought she was in love with another girl from her home. Eventually, the time came for Naomi to return to Alliance Space with her father. When she told Alex this, the Sinai girl confessed her feelings for her and asked to come with her. Naomi revealed that she was in love with someone else Alex responded with desperate attempts to change her mind that ultimately pushed her away. When she returned to Harmonia, Naomi realized that Alex had completely changed her outlook on life. She could no longer stand the rich, spoiled, attitudes of her friends or the girl she thought she loved, and her father’s ruthless and shady business practices disgusted her. Realizing she made a huge mistake leaving Alex behind and dedicated herself to exposing corruption in Alliance society, specifically her father and his company, as recompense for breaking Alex’s heart. Naomi even helped the Red Suns steal credits from ASI Consolidated in return for some files to help bring the company down. Alex came back into Naomi’s life once more when the _Helix_ arrived on Harmonia. No sooner were they reunited than Harmonia was attacked by a Mewtwo. Naomi fled the planet aboard the _Helix_ with Alex as it was destroyed. Both girls were overjoyed to be in each other’s company once more and began a romantic relationship, neither wanting to be parted from the other ever again.

Minerva Ljungström - The current pilot of the _UAS Helix_. The crew recruited her on the Federation megatropolis world Delphyne. She is a skilled Genevan pilot with a sassy attitude. She has a pretty intense medical condition that requires lots of equipment and medication but she is well worth the cost. She’s seen a lot of crazy things during her time with the _Helix_ crew, but she has grown used to it by now. She may not admit it to her employers, but she’s become quiet fond of them.

Adám - The very first Human who was created by the Mewtwos, an ancient race of powerful beings, during the very first cycle. The _Helix_ crew found him frozen in stasis with his Pokemon partner Eve on the Genevan world Jötunheimr and awakened him. He provided the crew with valuable knowledge of the history of the Universe and helped steer them onto the path of peace with the Mewtwos. He traveled with the crew until the conclusion of the final battle. Once peace had been achieved, Adám parted ways with the _Helix_ crew and went on to explore the Galaxy.

Dr. Louis Armstrong - The scientist who created H while working on a project funded by Mr. Silver. Mr. Silver pulled all funding and since then the man has been on a downward spiral. Reunited with H, the two seek to continue the project.

Bill Wi - A Pokemon geneticist and breeder the crew of the _UAS Helix_ recruited on the Alliance world Attica. He serves as the ship’s Pokemon breeder and genetics researcher.

Diane Stone - A Pokemon move tutor the crew of the _UAS Helix_ recruited on the Federation world Nerva.

Mr. Silver - An AI designed by the Mewtwos, an ancient race of powerful beings incapable of natural reproduction. Mr. Silver was designed as part of a plan to bring about the next generation of Mewtwos by harvesting the seeds of life sowed by the Gardener, another AI designed by the Mewtwos. Over a long span of time, he gathered data, and orchestrated the creation of the next generation through a network of cybernetically augmented Mr. Mimes with screens implanted into their faces. The creation of more Mewtwos was achieved through the twisted hybridization of Humans and Pokemon. In this cycle of the Mewtwo’s grand plan, the Humans used were the clones from Dr. Armstrong’s project. The _Helix_ crew later convinced the new Mewtwos that Mr. Silver’s methods were horrific and he is believed to have been destroyed by their hand.

Admiral Alexandra Graves - A Federation Admiral who commands the _FNS Halberd_ , the Federation vessel present during the Battle of Solace Prime. She is a harsh commander with nerves of icy steel and little patience for those who don’t get results. Her resolve during the war with the Romanov Supremacy and against the Mewtwos helped her rise to a position on the Federation war council.

Gilgamesh - A nomadic monk of Sinai origin. He was an Outer Rim Gym Leader specializing in psychic Pokemon and self-proclaimed “student of the Warp.” He was incredibly knowledgeable on matters related to ancient lore and warp space and traveled the Galaxy alone with his Pokemon in a small meditation sphere. He was killed by I while attempting to recover an artifact known as the Eye of Aether which he regretfully helped Mr. Silver obtain.

Aarn Hondo - A smuggler operating on the Outer Rim world Erebus in Sector 25. He provided the crew of the _Helix_ (then on the _Dunsparce_ ) with their warp drive in exchange for delivering a package to a Romanov research station, which turned out to be a Genesect fossil. He was later recruited by Gilgamesh to help recover the Eye of Aether. After Gilgamesh’s death, he teamed up with the _Helix_ crew to complete the mission.

Commander Samuel Rodriguez - The commander of OmniGuard Industries’ 23rd “Drapion” Company, an Alliance paramilitary unit. Rodriguez and Drapion were hired by Aarn Hondo to assist in the mission to obtain the Eye of Aether. After Gilgamesh’s death, he teamed up with the _Helix_ crew to complete the mission.

I - another cyborg created by Dr. Louis Armstrong who was given to Mr. Silver. Instead of using I as part of his projects, Mr. Silver employed him as his most agent, essentially selecting him to ascend to become a Mewtwo fully aware of the plan. He proved himself to be a dangerous enemy to the crew of the _UAS Helix_ , attempting to turn H against the crew and putting a bomb in Meta’s head and planting her as a spy on the _Helix_. He crossed paths with the crew many times but he was ultimately defeated, even after becoming a Mewtwo.

Captain Lee Heilovic - A cunning naval officer of the Romanov Supremacy. He commanded the _RSS Envy_. He aimed to capture the _Helix_ and her crew, so that the study of their technology might aid the Supremacy in its war. He proved himself to be a dangerous opponent, nearly capturing the crew multiple times and orchestrating the attack on the _GCS Halcyon_. He is believed to have perished when the _Halcyon_ exploded.

## The Fallen

Here we pay tribute to our fallen heroes and Pokemon. Not all battles are without losses.

 **Heroes:**  
Gilgamesh, Slain in combat by I during the mission to recover the Eye of Aether  
Arlon Jett, Sacrificed himself in battle against a Mewtwo so that the Federation fleet and the rest of the Red Suns could escape, killing it in the process.

 **Pokemon:**  
Cerberus - Houndoom (M), Trainer: Arlon, Slain in combat against the Red Suns aboard one of Mr. Silver’s ships  
F.I.R.E. (Furry Inferno Replicating Entity) - Houndour (F), Trainer: Shane, Slain in combat against the Red Suns aboard one of Mr. Silver’s ships  
Maine - Metang, Trainer: Dmitri, Slain in combat on Parisia during the Armstrong rescue  
D.E.R.P. (Deadly Energetic Reversible Pokemon) - Inkay (M), Trainer: Shane, Slain in combat in the Mirrored Temple  
Hector - Croconaw (M), Trainer: Morgan, Slain in combat in the Mirrored Temple  
Leviathan - Kyogre, Trainer: Alex, Slain by a Mewtwo aboard the _Helix_ during the final battle  
Blaise - Charizard (M), Trainer: Morgan, Slain by I on a Romanov factory station during the final battle  
#8 - Glalie (M), Trainer: H, Slain by I on a Romanov factory station during the final battle

## The Life Ships

Long ago, Earth was dying and in order to survive humanity had to reach for the stars. The nations of Earth worked together to build the life ships to send humans and Pokemon out into the vastness of space. Four two part life ships were constructed, each covering two launch sites and then combining after leaving the planet’s atmosphere in order to travel the great distances needed to find new habitable worlds.

The first life ship, from launch sites in the Northeastern and Southwestern United States carried mostly a mix of those from the US, Canada, and Mexico as well as some South American refugees who were able to make it to the launch sites. When this ship finally found a new world to settle after many generations the people on board founded what became known as the United Alliance.

The second life ship, from launch sites in France and Sweden, carried people from the many cultures of Europe into the stars. When this ship finally found a new world to settle after many generations the people on board founded what became known as the Geneva Confederacy.

The third life ship, from launch sites in Russia and China, carried mostly people from Russia and China as well as many from Eastern Europe, Southeast Asia, and Korea. When this ship finally found a new world to settle the people on board founded what became known as the Romanov Union.

The fourth and final life ship, from launch sites in Israel and India, carried mostly people from the Middle East and India as well as those from many other East Asian nations. When this ship finally found a new world to settle the people on board founded what became known as the Sinai Ascendancy.

Other life ships were launched from other locations such Japan, Brazil, and South Africa but no one really knows what happened to them. For some reason or another all the other life ships either never made it off of Earth or never made it to a new world.

## The Nations and the Federation

#### The Federation

The Federation was founded when the four ever expanding nations encountered each other. The core sectors of the galaxy are Federation space and are home to the main might of the Federation. The Federation is responsible for large scale day-to-day government operations such as the production of credits and maintaining peace between the four nations. The Federation also oversees the exploration of the Outer Rim and the expansion of the warp gate network. The Outer Rim is a fairly wild and lawless place, but the Federation does it’s best to maintain order. The Federation lost a lot of their territory due to the aggressive expansion of the Romanov Supremacy and the peace treaty that ended the conflict.

#### The United Alliance

The United Alliance was founded by those who came off the life ship that launched from North America. Largely built on the values of the descendants of Americans, who made up the bulk of the people on the life ship, the Alliance revere fierce determination and individual freedom. The Alliance is the industrial and capitalist superpower in the Federation. They have a strong economy and a political system dominated by corporations. In the Alliance, corporations are considered people and can therefore hold office. The Alliance doesn’t have a true military, but they have countless powerful and influential paramilitary organizations. Due to the destruction caused by the Mewtwos, the Alliance economy is in a state of decline.

#### The Geneva Confederacy

The Geneva Confederacy is a union of independent states founded by those who came off of the life ship launched from Europe. The Confederacy was essentially founded before the life ships even left Earth, the European nations showing the spirit of cooperation in order to ensure survival. Of all the life ships, the European one tried the hardest to preserve its individual cultural identities and it reflected in the official founding of the Geneva Confederacy as each member nation essentially became a unique and independent state within the Confederacy. The Geneva Confederacy is not as powerful militarily as either the United Alliance or the Romanov Union but they are a leader in the galaxy in terms of scientific advancement. With the destruction of the _GCS Halcyon_ , the ship playing host to the Galactic Governance Conference, by the Romanov Supremacy, the vast majority of the Confederacy’s leadership was killed. The Supremacy then invaded occupied the majority of Genevan space. Once the war was over, the Supremacy retained control of two out of the three Genevan Sectors. The Federation turned over several Outer Rim sectors to the Confederacy in order for them to begin rebuilding.

#### The Sinai Ascendancy

The Sinai Ascendancy is the smallest of the nations, and is not as powerful economically or militarily as the others. They are however a very spiritual people. The Ascendancy was founded by those who came off the life ship launched from Israel and India. The life ship forced people from nations of many religious, cultural, religious, and ethnic backgrounds that were historically often at odds with each other to work together in order to survive. Over the years their cultural and religious beliefs were melded together. Upon landing, the Sinai Ascendancy was founded in a region of space ripe with ancient ruins which became incorporated into their religious beliefs. The Sinai people are leaders in terms of unlocking the mystic secrets of warp space. With the revelation of the Mewtwos, the Sinai religion has been shaken to its core and the region has begun to destabilize.

#### The Romanov Union

The Romanov Union was founded by those who came off the life ship that launched from Russia and China. In the early years, the Russians took charge and asserted themselves politically and culturally, even though the Romanov Union has a massive Chinese and Korean population. The Romanov Union is also industrial superpower although they are much more focused on a strong centralized government over individual freedoms. They would consider themselves to be the economic rival of the United Alliance. The Romanov Supremacy, a splinter group of the Union, overthrew the government and took charge.

#### The Romanov Supremacy

The Romanov Supremacy developed out of a rogue faction within the Romanov Union that first came to light during the Battle of Solace Prime. They have military technology unlike anything anyone in the Galaxy has seen before. After their attack on the Galactic Governance Conference, the Supremacy invaded the Geneva Confederacy and the Federation declared war on them. With their superior weapons and technology, the Supremacy had the upper hand. Once the conflict had ended the Supremacy controlled nearly half the Galaxy.

## Warp Technology

The history of warp travel dates back to the early days of the Sinai Ascendancy. Sinai life ships from Earth landed on planets rich with ancient ruins that gave them insights into the mysteries of warp space.

Through collaboration with the Geneva Confederacy, known for their scientific prowess, the Sinai developed long distance communication through warp space. With backing from the rest of the Federation, these powers later developed warp drives for ships, enabling them to travel much greater distances.

With the full collaboration of all Federation powers, the first warp gate was created. These gates work with a ship’s warp drive to slingshot them across the galaxy. The Federation pushed for seeding the galaxy with warp drives.

Early conventions called for transmitting the steps for assembling the gate through warp space and having the local government oversee the construction. Once the Federation began to expand this became more difficult for Outer Rim sectors. With newer technology, the Federation has been creating new ships with much more powerful warp drives capable of much longer distance warp travel in order to go out into uncharted space and construct a new warp gate on-site.

## The Mewtwos and the Cycles

Legend states that in the beginning, there was only chaos. It is believed that from the chaos arose those who imposed order onto the Universe, now known known to this cycle as the Mewtwos. Establishing forces such as Time, Space, and Entropy, the Mewtwos shaped the Universe that we know. They existed with both incredible Knowledge and Power, but it is our understanding that they were unable to reproduce in the way that we Humans understand.

The Mewtwos created Humans, beings of Knowledge, and Pokemon, beings of Power, in order to fulfil this purpose. Humans and Pokemon were paired together and expected to grow together, establish a strong bond, and eventually join together and ascend as a Mewtwo.

Unfortunately, this process was desecrated by Cain who was the son of Adám, the first Human created. Jealous of his Pokemon partner Abel, Cain killed it and consumed its power, ascending as a Mewtwo prematurely. Cain wreaked havoc upon the Universe but was ultimately stopped by the Mewtwos. However, the damage was done and the Universe was never the same. Deciding that Humans could not be trusted, the Mewtwos began the cycles.

As their time faded, the Mewtwos created two AIs, the Gardner and the Harvester, to sow the seeds of life, watch the development of Humans and Pokemon, and, when the time came, see to the creation of a new Generation of Mewtwos before Humans destroyed the Universe. The means were often barbaric, but to the Mewtwos it was the only way to prevent further damage to the Universe. Each cycle’s AIs were a bit different, as were the Mewtwos they created, but it always played out the same in the end. However, things changed when the heroes of this cycle convinced the Mewtwos to give Humanity a chance. Now the Humans of this cycle have fifty years to prove themselves worthy of continued existence, lest the cycles begin again.


	89. Appendix: The Official Spacemon Timeline

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The official timeline of events in the Spacemon Universe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was a timeline I worked on for this series which was part of the Appendix where I originally uploaded this series, but I decided to make it it's own chapter here on AO3. It will be updated as new entries in the series are released.

May 8, 3593 - Renowned Genevan archeologist Robert Hawthorne vanishes mysteriously while investigating ancient ruins in Sinai space, searching for an artifact known as the Mirror.

December 6, 3604 - The Red Suns job to kidnap Federation Director of Economic Provision, Konstantin Schroeder, on Parisia goes south. Schroeder and Red Suns leader Lars Rickets are killed and Arlon Jett is framed for their deaths. In order to escape, Arlon fakes his own death.

March 12, 3605 - Arlon Jett, Morgan Durand, Dmitri Smirnitsky, and Experiment #1749XQR5Z-H meet aboard Gigan Station and escape together aboard what will become the _GCS Dunsparce_ when the station is attacked by the Red Suns

March 13, 3605 - The crew of the _Dunsparce_ meet Aarn Hondo, who gives them a package to deliver to the Alexi System in Romanov space in exchange for a warp drive

March 16, 3605 - The crew of the _Dunsparce_ defeat rock type gym leader Johan Lindberg in orbit around the half-destroyed planet Ragnarök and earn the Asteroid Badge

March 17, 3605 - H and Dmitri create mysterious warp goo by exposing slop to warp space

March 20, 3605 - The crew of the _Dunsparce_ delivers Hondo’s package to a space station in the Alexi System in Romanov space and discover the scientists there are attempting to create an army of cybernetic Pokemon known as Genesect

March 20, 3605 - H creates a shiny Trevenant by injecting a tree on a swamp planet in the Alexi System with the warp goo he created. He captures it, but Morgan is traumatized by the incident. The incident also attracts the interest of someone known as Mr. Silver, who contacts the _Dunsparce_ to arrange a meeting.

March 24, 3605 - The crew of the _Dunsparce_ rescues Shane, a sentient, self-aware AI that exists in a living form due to a glitch in reality, from a ship in Sinai ship he was stowed away on, while the _Dunsparce_ is on route to meet Mr. Silver and he joins the crew.

March 26, 3605 - The crew of the _Dunsparce_ meet Mr. Silver, a strange and Enigmatic man who communicates through a network of cybernetically modified Mr. Mimes. He pays them handsomely for samples of the warp goo H and Dmitri created, as well as another large sum to travel to a set of coordinates in an uncharted sector of space with no warp gate.

March 28, 3605 - The crew of the _Dunsparce_ defeat fire type gym leader Masou McKay on the volcanic desert world Silicron and earn the Star Badge.

April 3, 3605 - The crew of the _Dunsparce_ meet with Arlon’s old acquaintance Maxx Aler who outfits their ship with weapons and provides them with information on the Red Suns who may be involved with something related to the exploration of uncharted space. In the process, Arlon reveals that he used to be a member of the Red Suns, until he was framed for the murder of their old leader.

April 4, 3605 - The crew of the _Dunsparce_ defeat water type gym leader Captain William Benz inside his spacefaring Wailord and earn the Nebula Badge

April 8, 3605 - The _Dunsparce_ travels to the desert world Banton to pursue their lead on the Red Suns. The crew engages Red Suns lieutenant Kiril Zhukov in battle and take him prisoner. By hacking the Red Suns computers and interrogating Zhukov, they learn the Red Suns have acquired of virus capable of hacking warp gates to use as weapons.

April 10, 3605 - The _Dunsparce_ returns to Sector 25 and helps to stave off a Red Suns attack on Federation forces using a hacked warp gate. After the battle, the crew meets the psychic type gym leader Gilgamesh, a nomadic monk who studies the mysteries of the Warp. He provides them information on the mysterious Pokemon Giratina who lives in the Warp as a possible means for them to return from the gateless sector. Using a repurposed version of the Red Suns virus, they launch themselves into free warp space toward the uncharted sector

April 14, 3605 - The _Dunsparce_ arrives in the uncharted sector after several days freely flying through warp space. At the coordinates provided by Mr. Silver, the crew discovers the long-lost origin world of Humanity, Earth. On Earth they recover ancient and mysterious artifacts to bring to Mr. Silver.

May 5, 3605 - After weeks freely floating through warp space, the crew is nearly driven insane from warp madness before coming across Giratina, the Pokemon of the Warp. Giratina brands Shane and grants him warp powers which allow him to bring the _Dunsparce_ back to explored space.

May 6, 3605 - The crew of the _Dunsparce_ meet with Mr. Silver again and he pays them for the artifacts they collected on Earth. He then provides them a tip on an upcoming Genesect attack in Federation space. After the meeting, the crew encounters the Red Suns again. After a tough battle with Red Suns leader Devlin Garth and lieutenant Rena Bordeaux in which two of their Pokemon die, the crew of the _Dunsparce_ takes them prisoner and escape the ship. During the interrogation, it is revealed that Garth had the former Red Suns leader Lars Rickets killed and framed Arlon for it. Rena calls a truce between Arlon and the Red Suns and give him Garth as a token of goodwill.

May 7, 3605 - The _Dunsparce_ travels to the coordinates in Federation space where the Genesect attack is supposed to happen and meet with Vice-Admiral Alexandra Graves on the _FNS Halberd_. They warn her of the attack and she enlists the crew of the Dunsparce to aid in the coming battle. On the Halberd, the crew of the _Dunsparce_ acquire a new, larger ship and name it the _UAS Helix_.

May 7, 3605 - The Battle of Solace Prime - A rogue faction of the Romanov Union launches an attack against the Federation forces in Sector 4 in Federation space using an army of Genesect. The _FNS Halberd_ and _UAS Helix_ stand alone against this threat. The crew of the _Helix_ infiltrate the command ship and defeat the Romanov Admiral. The Genesect flee the battle as if called away by someone, or something, else and the rogue Romanovs are captured.

May 8, 3605 - The crew of the _Helix_ are named heroes by the Federation and are paid a handsome reward for their assistance in the battle of Solace Prime.They also receive a sizeable reward for claiming the bounty on Garth for his actions in Sector 25.

May 9, 3605 - Arlon parts ways with the crew of the _UAS Helix._

May 10, 3605 - Gilgamesh and Aarn Hondo meet by chance. Gilgamesh recruits the smuggler to assist in a mission to recover an artifact known as the Eye of Aether from the clutches of Mr. Silver.

May 13, 3605 - Arlon joins up with Rena Bordeaux and Kiril Zhukov, and the Red Suns loyal to them, on Banton and agrees to help them consolidate control over the organization and fill the power vacuum left by Devlin Garth.

June 14, 3605 - After a month of hard work, Arlon, working together with Rena Bordeaux, Kiril Zhukov, and Luke Anderson, successfully unifies the Red Suns under his leadership and reforms them into an elite band of Mercenaries instead of the past incarnations as a team of bounty hunters and a pirate organization.

June 19, 3605 - Arlon recruits his old friend, Romanov bounty hunter Petra Azarov, as his fourth Red Suns lieutenant, alongside Rena, Kiril, and Luke. Arlon reveals to his lieutenants that the Red Suns’ new, secret, goal is to uncover Mr. Silver’s operations by running jobs for him.

September 13, 3605 - Hondo pulls a favor to hire on OmniGuard Industries’ 23rd “Drapion” Company lead by Commander Samuel Rodriguez for the mission to acquire the Eye of Aether.

September 20, 3605 - Gilgamesh, Hondo, and Rodriguez travel to the Romanov world Xiaou to recruit the hacker known as Meta. After a spectacular chase through the city, the team manages to catch Meta and bring her onboard. Meta causes a spy who had been tracking them to have an unfortunate traffic accident, and acquires an exchange with Mr. Silver related to artifacts recovered from a “garden site.” This information troubles Gilgamesh, who announces that he must leave for several months to investigate.

October 4, 3605 - Morgan contacts Arlon and asks him to locate Gilgamesh for her.

October 16, 3605 - Arlon meets with Aarn Hondo in order to get more information on the origin of the Genesect package he had the _Dunsparce_ deliver to the Romanovs. Hondo’s information makes it clear the package came from Mr. Silver. Hondo also reveals that he has been working with Gilgamesh searching for some sort of ancient artifact, and explains that the monk is currently headed for the planet Vandia in Sinai Space; Mr. Silver contacts the Red Suns with a job to capture or kill Dr. Louis Armstrong, an Alliance scientist specializing in theoretical biology.

October 19, 3605 - After several days gathering intel on Armstrong, Arlon decides to pass the information onto the _UAS Helix_ , recognizing the man’s importance toward the goal of uncovering Mr. Silver’s operations. Arlon passes this information along to the _UAS Helix_. He also informs Morgan that Gilgamesh was headed to Vandia, the last anyone heard.

November 17, 3605 - Deciding to seek out Gilgamesh for answers to their burning questions, the crew of the _UAS Helix_ travel to Vandia. As they approach the planet they come under attack from a ship of strange, almost zombie-like people. They destroy their assailants but crash on the planet. On the planet, the crew meets a strange street orphan girl named Alex. She helps them to find a lead on where Gilgamesh might be headed in the form of an ancient star map found within ruins on the planet.

November 18, 3605 - After leaving Vandia, the crew of the _Helix_ discover that Alex has snuck on board the ship. Discovering her snooping around the lab where he had stored Genesect specimens in cryo, H defeats her in a Pokemon battle and then attempts to kill her. The rest of the crew prevent him from doing so, but Alex is knocked unconscious. Snooping through her Pokedex, Morgan discovers that her name is Alexandria Hawthorne. She is the daughter of renowned Genevan archeologist Dr. Robert Hawthorne, a man who vanished twelve years prior. Alex is now pursuing an artifact known as the Mirror which her father was searching for when he vanished in hopes that it will help her find out what happened to him.

November 19, 3605 - Arlon recruits pilot Matt Suzuki to fly the _UAS Corsair_ on the Alliance world Harmonia.

November 22, 3605 - The Red Suns infiltrate ASI Consolidated headquarters on the Alliance world Harmonia and plant a virus to steal credits from the shady Alliance corporation ASI Consolidated with help from the CEO’s daughter, Naomi Pierce. In exchange, they steal some files for her to help her in her goal of exposing ASI’s activities to the public.

November 23, 3605 - After Alex awakens from her medically induced coma while the _Helix_ is docked on the Federation world of Delphyne, Morgan informs her that she will be allowed to stay on the ship, as long as they can agree to some rules. While on Delphyne, the crew also hires Genevan pilot Minerva Ljungström as a replacement for Arlon.

November 24, 3605 - The Red Suns successfully complete an operation in Sector 19, stealing intel from a Romanov Union base in the midst of being captured by Romanov Supremacy forces.

November 25, 3605 - Following the star map from Vandia after Gilgamesh, the _Helix_ has a brush with Romanov Supremacist forces in Sector 18, but manage to escape.

November 26, 3605 - The Red Suns face off with Romanov Supremacist forces lead by Captain Lee Heilovic of the _RSS Envy_ in Sector 19.

November 28, 3605 - The _Helix_ arrives at the ocean world of Messina, the most likely location pointed to by the star map. In a deep underwater cavern, the crew encounter an ancient Pokemon known as the Storm Leviathan. Alex manages to capture the creature. They then find Gilgamesh who agrees to tell them what they wish to know, as well as to fight them in a Pokemon battle.

November 29, 3605 - Gilgamesh provides the crew of the _Helix_ with the answers they seek. They then defeat him in a gym battle and earn the Warp Badge. After the battle, the crew explores an ancient, ruined city buried on Messina, and find traces of other human civilization. Gilgamesh tells them of the Trees of Life and Knowledge and their link to the Gardener of Eden which seeded the Galaxy with Human and Pokemon alike. He provides them with a lead on its location.

November 30, 3605 - Returning from Messina, the _Helix_ faces Captain Lee Heilovic of the Romanov Supremacy, who had been waiting since their previous encounter with the Supremacist forces on the way to Messina. They narrowly escape.

December 2, 3605 - Arlon Jett asks the crew of the _Helix_ to secure Dr. Louis Armstrong, who is scheduled to speak at Belaviure University on Parisia in the Genevan core system and is likely going to be captured or killed by Mr. Silver’s men.

December 6, 3605 - Arlon Jett visits Devlin Garth at Bastion Super-Maximum Security Penitentiary to inquire about his connections to Mr. Silver. Arlon learns of Mr. Silver’s involvement in the death of Lars Ricketts, the attack on Gigan Station, and the creation of the virus the Red Suns used to hack and weaponize the Sector 25 warp gate.

December 9, 3605 - The crew of the _Helix_ rescues Dr. Armstrong from Mr. Silver’s men but Dmitri’s Metang is killed and in response, Dmitri kills its killer. After talking with Armstrong, it is revealed that Armstrong created H. H was one of many subjects in experiments to create a next generation cyborg. The project, which was funded by Mr. Silver, was shut down about five years prior.

December 10, 3605 - Morgan receives a dark and mysterious vision after gazing into the Warp in Shane’s warp lab; The Red Suns uncover a lead on a powerful cyber-weapon planned to be used at the Galactic Governance Conference and begin hatching a plan to obtain it and use it against Mr. Silver.

December 11, 3605 - The crew of the _Helix_ travels to the Mirrored Temple, a lead on the Mirror provided by Gilgamesh. Inside the temple, the crew faces tough wild Pokemon that kill two of theirs. After the battle, they find the Mirror, which shows them dark and disturbing visions, but they find a link to another temple located in the galactic core. On the way out the crew is attacked by more zombie-like people and realizes they are somehow related to the Mirror.

December 12, 3605 - Shane and Morgan let Alex know that she is now part of their “family” after seeing how she blames herself for the death of their Pokemon and truly welcome her as part of the crew of the _Helix_ ; Arlon contacts the _Helix_ and requests the crew’s assistance in acquiring the cyber-weapon at the Galactic Governance Conference.

December 13, 3605 - The crew of the _Helix_ defeat fighting type gym leader Jerome MacJabber on the sixth moon of the gas giant Siogern and earn the Belt Badge.

December 17, 3605 - H and Dr. Armstrong complete the procedure transforming H into Armstrong’s vision of the next-generation cyborg.

December 18, 3605 - The crew of the _Helix_ acquire invitations to the the Galactic Governance Conference by convincing a Parisian politician to let them show off the new and improved H at the conference.

December 20, 3605 - The Red Suns finalize the plan to acquire the cyber-weapon at the Galactic Governance Conference. Knowing that they will soon uncover Mr. Silver’s plans, they plan to ramp up recruitment and start building a mercenary fleet in order to go to toe-to-toe with him.

December 23, 3605 - Gilgamesh, Hondo, Meta, and Rodriguez launch their operation to acquire the Eye of Aether. Unfortunately, the mission fails, Gilgamesh is killed, Meta goes missing, and Hondo and Rodriguez barely escape. However, with his dying breath, Gilgamesh requests that Hondo and Rodriguez seek out the crew of the _UAS Helix_ for help.

December 24, 3605 - The crew of the _Helix_ travel to the galactic core following the lead from the Mirrored Temple. On the planet they battle with the Pokemon called Darkrai which seems to be connected to the mirrors, and ultimately directed by something much more sinister. Dmitri becomes bound to Darkrai and gains some sort of influence over its aura.

December 25, 3605 - Morgan attempts to kill H’s Trevenant and Shane’s Cofagrigus, believing the two Pokemon are a threat to everyone on the _Helix_. The Pokemon are saved thanks to Alex selflessly risking her life for them and Shane confessing his love for Morgan.

December 29, 3605 - The crew of the _Helix_ discover the remains of the Gardener on the station where Shane was created. It is revealed that Shane is what was left of the Gardner when the Sinai researchers found it.

December 31, 3605 - The crew of the _Helix_ visit the Romanov world of Prague and battle an ancient golem-like Pokemon in some ruins similar to the ones on Vandia.

January 6, 3606 - The crew of the _Helix_ hires Pokemon geneticist Bill Wi on the Alliance world of Attica to serve as the ship’s Pokemon breeding and genetics specialist.

January 17, 3606 - Galactic Governance Conference - Day 1: The conference begins aboard the _GCS Halcyon_. Alex gets Shane into the computer systems.

January 18, 3606 - GGC - Day 2: Arlon discovers a bomb in the cargo hold in a crate belonging to Robert Heinkel, a Genevan Councilor from the New Germany. Arlon later collects the cyber weapon he is looking for from Heinkel’s room.

January 19, 3606 - GGC - Day 3: The crew of the _UAS Helix_ deliver their presentation on cybernetic augmentation. Captain Lee Heilovic of the Romanov Supremacy attacks the _Halcyon_ with a squad of Knight Commandos. The crew of the _Helix_ and the Red Suns engage the Supremacist forces and manage to drive them off the ship but Heilovic activates the bomb. Despite their best efforts, the crew of the _Helix_ and the Red Suns are unable to disarm the bomb and evacuate the ship aboard the _UAS Corsair_. Before fleeing, the Corsair cripples the _RSS Envy_. The bomb detonates and destroys the _GCS Halcyon_ , the _RSS Envy_ and the majority of the Federation Third Fleet. The Romanov Supremacy launches a full-scale invasion of the Geneva Confederacy.

January 20, 3606 - The crew of the _Helix_ and the Red Suns make their plan to strike at Mr. Silver using the cyber weapon acquired at the Galactic Governance Conference.

January 24, 3606 - The Red Suns board and capture one of the Romanov Supremacy’s Broadsword class heavy cruisers in Sector 10 in Genevan space in order to acquire intel for the Federation.

January 25, 3606 - the crew of the _Helix_ hire on Pokemon move tutor Diane Stone on the Federation world of Nerva.

January 27, 3606 - The crew of the _UAS Helix_ and the Red Suns confront Mr. Silver. Claiming his plans are too far along to be stopped, the enigmatic character reveals himself: an AI of similar origin to the Gardener, designed to reap to havets of the Gardener’s seeds, to usher in the next generation of an ancient species who will then wipe out life in the Galaxy to rule it once more. The team then pulls a massive amount of data from Silver’s network using the cyber weapon acquired at the Galactic Governance Conference.

January 29, 3606 - The crew of the _UAS Helix_ and the Red Suns meet up with a Federation fleet at the coordinates of what is believed to be one of Mr. Silver’s operations. The crew of the _Helix_ enters the facility at the coordinates and learns the horrifying truth of what the “next generation” of the ancient species is. The crew escapes the facility, but the abomination they discovered pursues them. The _Helix_ crew and Red Suns escape but the Federation fleet is destroyed.

January 31, 3606 - The crew of the _UAS Helix_ return to the Void and encounter Giratina once again. During the encounter, both Shane and Alex get exposed to raw warp energy. Shane’s abilities get amplified and he gains a new understanding of the laws of the Warp, and Space itself. Alex gains the ability to accurately discern then precise measurements of an object on sight alone. The ship returns to real space right on the surface of Vandia.

February 1, 3606 - The crew of the _UAS Helix_ meet with Aarn Hondo and Commander Samuel Rodriguez on an OmniGuard Industries station in Alliance Space. The two reveal that they had been working with Gilgamesh to recover an artifact known as the Eye of Aether from the clutches of Mr. Silver and that the Sinai monk had been killed during the mission. Mr. Silver’s forces then attack the station. The crew of the _Helix_ board the attacking ship to recover vital intel and to rescue the missing member of Hondo and Rodriguez’s team. On the ship they encounter another clone like H working for Mr. Silver known as I. The crew defeats I’s Rhyperior, but I escapes. The crew then rescues Meta, the missing member of Hondo and Rodriguez’s team and escapes.

February 2, 3606 - Both Meta and H work as spies for I to steal valuable data from the _UAS Helix_. Meta tactfully plays the crew against each other, pushing them toward suspecting H while she stealthily acquired the data. However H claims that he intended to only send falsified records, and some of the crew seem to trust him. Alex, however, believes H to be a threat to their very survival and unsuccessfully attempts to kill him. The crew eventually realizes Meta’s plan when she tries to escape. Alex, using the Storm Leviathan of Messina, manages to partially disable Meta’s escape pod, causing her to crash land on the planet Harmonia, which the _Helix_ is currently orbiting. After Meta’s escape the crew find Minerva in critical condition. Morgan and H manage to stabilize the pilot while Shane and Alex just barely manage to pull out an emergency landing on Harmonia. Once Minerva is safely brought to a hospital, the _Helix_ crew teams up with the Red Suns, who have a base on Harmonia, to track Meta down. After successfully apprehending Meta. the crew learns that I place a bomb in her head to force her to work for him against her will. After a long, grueling Surgery, H, Kiril Zhukov, and Dr. Armstrong remove the bomb and Meta joins the crew of the _UAS Helix_.

February 9, 3606 - While shopping at the Mall of Harmonia, Alex runs into Naomi Pierce, the girl she used to be in love with. Naomi reveals that she realized leaving Alex behind on Vandia was a mistake and confesses her feeling for Alex. The two girls are then interrupted by Naomi’s father, Jonathan Pierce, CEO of an important Alliance corporation, who attempts to separate them as he disapproves of his daughter being involved with Alex. However, Mr. Silver’s abomination attacks Harmonia at this time. Naomi and her father escape back to the Helix with the ship’s crew. The Helix crew, their new passengers, and the Red Suns escape Harmonia just before the abomination destroys the planet.

February 11, 3606 - During the event known as Galactic Alignment, Morgan, Alex, Shane, H, and Dmitri find themselves transported to a mysterious ghost ship. Alongside three other individuals who ended up perishing, the crew fought through many ghost Pokemon owned by a mysterious ghost girl. After emerging triumphant, the crew found themselves returned to the _Helix_ , each having somehow received an Anomaly Badge and several rare candies.

February 13, 3606 - The _Helix_ links back up the _Corsair_. Arlon provides the _Helix_ crew with the cyber-weapon and the fully decrypted data they stole from Mr. Silver using it. The data finally gives a name to their foe: Mewtwo.

February 14, 3606 - The _Helix_ and the _Corsair_ link up with the rest of the Red Suns’ fleet, as well as Hondo and Rodriguez. Putting their heads together, they begin devising a plan to deal with _I_ and the Mewtwos. As the first stage of the plan Shane instantaneously free-warps the _Helix_ to I’s base in Supremacist-occupied Genevan space. At the base, the crew discovers he has been conducting massive amounts of research on ancient Pokemon, and the forces of Space, Time, and Entropy. The crew once again battles with I, but the cyborg manages to escape. Afterwards, the crew discovers Alex’s long-missing father, Dr. Robert Hawthorne, imprisoned on the station for research and learns that his greatest fear is Alex herself and his inability to be a father. Dmitri uses his influence over Darkrai’s aura to dispel the effects the Pokemon had inflicted upon Hawthorne. Alex pleads with her father to come with her and the rest of the crew, but he ultimately chooses to kill himself with his daughter’s own knife, leaving the girl devastated. Due to the urgency of the crew’s mission, Alex doesn’t even get a chance to collect herself before they have to rush off to collect the Eye of Aether. On the way through the station’s control room, the crew sees video feeds of other Mewtwos awakening in lab sites across the Galaxy. In another part of the station, the crew locates the Eye but find that it is too massive to take with them. Interacting with the artifact, Morgan sees visions from across time and forms a connection with a being slumbering inside it, gaining some influence over time. The Eye shows her a planet and a man frozen in stasis on its surface, then it shows a Mewtwo approaching the Eye. Heeding this warning, the crew decides to cut their losses and come back for the Eye later. Back on the _Helix_ , devastated by the death of her father, Alex attempts to end her own life but Naomi stops her. Alex vows to stay alive because Naomi and the other people that she cares about are depending on her. H interrupts their moment and confronts Alex with the fact that they need to work together if the crew is going to have any chance at defeating the Mewtwos and the two agree to set aside their differences.

February 15, 3606 - The Red Suns’ fleet joins up with a Federation fleet in Sector 3 to aide them in battle against a Mewtwo. The creature decimats the fleets, but it is ultimately killed when Arlon sacrifices himself by crashing the heavily damaged _Corsair_ into it and detonating its warp drive and reactor.

February 16, 3606 - The _Helix_ travels to the planet Jötunheimr in Romanov-occupied Genevan space, the location Morgan saw in the Eye of Aether. The crew meets with the scientists at the research station on one of the gas giant’s moons and arrange passage down to the other moon, inside the atmosphere of Jötunheimr. On the moon’s surface, the crew finds some ancient ruins and battles against two icy automatons guarding them. Protecting Morgan’s Charizard from a lethal attack, Alex has her Chandelure intercept, but the extremely cold attack permanently extinguishes the Pokemon’s flames. After defeating the guardians, the crew finds the stasis pod Morgan saw her vision and thaw out a man and a Pokemon they’ve never seen before. Using some ability they’ve never seen before, the man absorbs their language and introduces himself as Adám. Through conversing with Adám, the crew learns that he has been around for many cycles. The crew convinces him to return to the _Helix_ with them, and they learn that he is the fabled Adám from the Sinai bible. However, things get heated back on the ship when H tries to forcibly obtain DNA samples from him. Morgan and Alex fight against H to get him to stand down, but the conflict is diffused when Shane teleports Adám and his Pokemon away and Dmitri puts the others to sleep. Later on, Alex is devastated to find out about her Chandelure’s condition but she can’t figure out a way to fix the Pokemon. Shane promises her they will find a way eventually but tells her they need to focus on saving the Galaxy first.

February 17, 3606 - the _Helix_ returns to I’s station for the Eye of Aether. Tapping into the station’s countless warp drives, Shane uses his powers to transport the station to Sector 25. The crew then makes contact with the Red Suns and learn of Arlon’s sacrifice. They plan to meet up and plan out a course of action. The crew sees to taking care of the Mirror-affected people and Pokemon on the station and get them moved off the station for treatment.

February 19, 3606 - Morgan uses the Eye of the Aether and nearly loses herself in the deep knowledge of Time, but Shane pulls her out. The crew and the Red Suns meet up and begin hashing out a plan. Adám tells them of his cycle, the very first cycle. Humans and Pokemon were created by the Mewtwos to grow alongside each other and, when they were ready, they were too join with their partners to ascend as new Mewtwos. However, Adám’s son, Cain, grew power hungry and craved his partner’s power, ultimately killing it and using its power to ascend prematurely, wreaking havoc upon the Universe. Adám tells them that the Mewtwos do not trust Humanity because of their lust for power, indicating the crew’s powers granted by Giratina, Darkrai, and the Eye as examples. Alex catches his drift and points out that maybe giving up their powers will go toward showing the Mewtwos that Humanity can change. The crew agrees that maybe they can find a peaceful resolution to the conflict after all, but make a plan to construct warp bombs based off the way Arlon took down a Mewtwo just in case they can’t. heeding Adám’s advice, Shane returns to the void and returns his power to Giratina by imitating the abilities Adám had been shown to possess. H seems quite frustrated by this and storms out.

February 20, 3606 - Alex sits down with Adám as he is living proof that the religious stories from back home that she never really believed in are actually true. The two talk more about the early history of the Mewtwos, life, and their own life struggles, sharing much wisdom with each other. Later on, Morgan attempts to return her powers to the Eye but can’t seem to find a way. Shane looks into the Eye and finds lots of information to help him start work on the warp bombs and another project: a warp glove to allow him to use some of his innate abilities while minimizing any potential damage to the Universe. Adám also looks into the Eye to learn of Cain’s fate. He chooses the keep the horrifying things he sees to himself. The crew contacts Admiral Graves about their warp bomb plan and she requests they present this information at to the Federation war council in the Genesis Core System in Sector 1. Hiding away as she processes her conversation with Adám, Alex begins to doubt herself again. However, Naomi once more restores her faith. Alex then gives Naomi several of her Pokemon to protect her and for her to look after while Naomi reveals that she may have found a way to fix Alex’s Chandelure.

February 21, 3606 - Shane completes work on his warp glove and a warp bomb prototype. Meanwhile, Alex creates the first prototype of a new Pokeball that doesn’t exert any controlling influence over Pokemon, a decision she came to based on the things Adám had told her. She permanently releases her Umbreon but due to their strong bond nothing changes between the two. Alex decides she will do the same for her other Pokemon as well.

February 22, 3606 - The _Helix_ crew meets with the Federation war council in the Genesis Core System in Sector 1 and present their warp bomb solution. Grand Admiral David White approves the project and asks the crew for more input on a plan to fight the Mewtwos. They make a plan to enlist the aid of the Romanov Supremacy and agree to send the crew as neutral third-party negotiators. However, H storms out in the middle of the meeting and the crew runs off after him shortly thereafter to keep him out of trouble. Back on the _Helix_ , they confront H who reveals that he no longer wishes to work with them because they have chosen to give up their powers. The crew convinces him to stay and in return he asks they bring Adám to him. H attempts to kill the ancient man as a sort of test and when he survives he accepts that he may, in fact, be worth working with after all.

February 23, 3606 - As the _Helix_ flies through warp space toward the Romanov capital world, Mir Zimoy, Morgan and Shane reflect upon their journeys together and think about the future. Meanwhile, Alex and Naomi take their relationship to the next level. Elsewhere on the ship, H and Meta work together on several projects to use against the Mewtwos. They end up hooking up and having a fling.

February 24, 3606 - En route to Mir Zimoy, the _Helix_ runs across a Romanov Blockade. The commanding Admiral agrees to set up a meeting with the Supremacy’s Supreme Admiral Ivan Cenov and bring the crew to Mir Zimoy after extorting them for a large sum of money.

February 25, 3606 - The _Helix_ crew meets with Supreme Admiral Cenov on Mir Zimoy and facilitate a meeting with him and the Federation war council. Cenov agrees to aid in the production of the warp bombs and in the final battle against the Mewtwos but only on the condition that the Federation ceases all further hostilities and turns over several territories on top of the ones that the Supremacy previously invaded. The Federation begrudgingly accepts, asking only that the final battle take place in Romanov space. They make a plan to use the Eye of Aether to quickly produce warp bombs using the resources of the Romanov shipyards in the Železo system.

February 27, 3606 - The Federation fleets begin to arrive in the Železo system, along with the Red Suns’ reinforced Outer Rim fleet and the Eye of Aether. Production on the warp bombs begins.

March 10, 3606 - Having released almost all of her Pokemon and having them choose to stay with her, Alex remains unsure about Leviathan. She knows the Pokeball is the only thing making it listen to her and that it doesn’t share the same bond with her that her other Pokemon do, but she knows she needs it’s help in the coming battle. Adám uses his abilities to allow Alex to communicate with Leviathan. Sharing thoughts and feelings with the Pokemon through Adám, Alex gets Leviathan to agree to help her one last time, but she promises to release it back into the seas of Messina afterwards. I, having now ascended as a cybernetically augmented Mewtwo, makes contact with the gathered fleets and announces he is coming for the Eye.

March 12, 3606 - The Final Stand - The Mewtwos arrive in the Železo system and begin to lay waste to the gathered fleets of the Galaxy. During the battle two Mewtwos board the _Helix_. The two Mewtwos are ultimately defeated, but not before one kills Leviathan. Fueled by anger and a thirst for revenge, Alex executes the Mewtwo who killed her Pokemon once H brings it down. She had no time to mourn as there was still a battle to fight. Soon I arrives and join the conflict. After destroying several ships I heads straight for the station containing the Eye of Aether where the _Helix_ crew intercepts him. After battling against the crew across the station, I summons several Mewtwos to assist him. However, the crew manages to persuade these Mewtwos that I was unworthy of ascension. They try to convince them to give Humanity a chance, but before they can, I resumes his assault upon them in an enraged fury that proves the crew right. He smashes the Eye of Aether down on them, breaking it open and releasing the Pokemon that controls Time, known as Dialga. Battling against I, while trying to avoid getting hit by Dialga or damage it in any way, the crew lose two more Pokemon: Morgan’s Charizard and H’s Glalie. However, they ultimately emerge victorious. Impressed by the crew’s actions, the Mewtwos agree to grant Humanity a trial period to grow and develop under their supervision.

March 13, 3606 - With the battle won, the Federation and the Supremacy hash out a peace treaty. The Genevan core sector is returned to Federation control, but the Romanovs walk away from the negotiations with the other two Genevan sectors, dozens of Outer Rim sectors, and exclusive rights to the unexplored swathe of the Galaxy where the _Helix_ crew discovered Earth, essentially dividing the Galaxy between the two factions right down the middle.


	90. Appendix: The Journal of Alexandria Hawthorne

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The full journal kept by Alex from the age of seven until shortly before she turned eighteen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This started as a little thing I did for fun in the Appendix, but I eventually expanded it into a full journal and gave it its own Appendix chapter.

**~~Diary~~** **~~Journal~~** **~~Quest~~** _**Helix**_ **Log  
****Entry 1 - December 15, 3595:** Dear diary, Today is my birthday. I turned 7. Amal said I should start a diary. I don’t really get it.

**Entry 2 - December 22, 3595:** Dear diary, I still don’t know what to write. Nothing ever happens.

**Entry 3 - December 29, 3595:** Dear diary, People came looking to adopt someone yesterday. I don’t think they liked me.

**Entry 4 - January 15, 3596:** Dear diary, Anish was mean to me again today. Amal made him stop.

**Entry 5 - January 24, 3596:** Dear diary, More people came looking to adopt someone. They didn’t even talk to me. Amal says I shouldn’t be down.

**Entry 6 - February 25, 3596:** Dear diary, It’s been a while. I had nothing to say but now I’m sad. Amal got adopted and now she’s gone. I have no friends here.

**Entry 7 - March 6, 3596:** Dear diary, Anish was mean again. Amal wasn’t here to stop him. He kept pulling my hair and no one did anything.

**Entry 8 - March 18, 3596:** Dear diary, Anish is mean every day now. No one does anything.

**Entry 9 - March 30, 3596:** Dear diary, Anish pushed me down the stairs! No one believes me! Why is he so mean?

**Entry 10 - April 20, 3596:** Dear diary, I ran away! I wanted Anish to stop so I told Ebony to bite him. They were gonna take Ebony away so I ran!

**Entry 11 - April 27, 3596:** Dear diary, I’m so hungry. It’s hard to find food. But I won’t go back!

**Entry 12 - May 4, 3596:** Dear diary, I met a nice girl and boy today. Their names are Dima and Arieh. They have no home either. They gave me food.

**Entry 13 - May 18, 3596:** Dear diary, Arieh has been teaching me how to steal from market stalls. I don’t like doing it but we need to eat too!

**Entry 14 - July 6, 3596:** Dear diary, There isn’t much time to write anymore. Dima and Arieh aren’t giving me enough food. I get most of it for them! They said this is fair.

**Entry 15 - August 20, 3596:** Dear diary, I’m sorry I don’t write here much anymore. They still don’t give me enough food! They have extra and they won’t share it!

**Entry 16 - August 22, 3596:** Dear diary, Dima and Arieh left. They said I was more trouble than I’m worth. What does that even mean? I’m alone again.

**Entry 17 - July 1, 3596:** Dear diary, I don’t like being alone. At least I still have Ebony.

**Entry 18 - November 26, 3596:** Dear diary, I’m sorry I haven’t written anything. I got caught stealing and I had to run. I got lost. I found a new place to sleep.

**Entry 19 - November 30, 3596:** Dear diary, I’m so hungry. There’s no market near here. I can’t find food.

**Entry 20 - December 4, 3596:** Dear diary, I have to eat yucky food in the garbage. I don’t like it, but it’s the only food.

**Entry 21 - December 15, 3596:** Dear diary, Today is my birthday. I am 8 now. Nobody knows. At least they knew at the orphanage.

**Entry 22 - December 28, 3596:** Dear diary, I don’t feel so good. I think it’s because I eat garbage. I need food.

**Entry 23 - January 3, 3597:** Dear diary, I found a new market. No more garbage! I hope I don’t get caught again.

**Entry 24 - January 14, 3597:** Dear diary, today I met a girl named Neela, She took me to meet her friends Jamal, Fareed, and Amir. They have a cool hideout and food! They’re older kids but they said I could join them,

**Entry 25 - January 20, 3597:** Dear diary, I like it here. We work together to get food and there’s a nice place to sleep. They even have an old holoscreen and movies here.

**Entry 26 - January 29, 3597:** Dear diary, Jamal found a new movie and we watched it. It’s called _Eliminator_. It’s about an evil robot-man from the future.

**Entry 27 - February 2, 3597:** Dear diary, Neela says that diaries are stupid. She said I was stupid for writing one. I’m not stupid!

**Entry 28 - July 8, 3599:** It’s been over 2 years since I wrote anything. Neela said diaries are stupid so I stopped writing. I missed writing so I decided to start again. This is not a diary though. It’s a _journal_. So much has happened! I learned how to fix Pokeballs. I collect the ones that people leave behind when they don’t work and fix them. I can sell them for money!

**Entry 29 - July 29, 3599:** Amir has been teaching me and Fareed how to Pokemon battle. Amir’s Trubbish is tough but I think Ebony can beat him one day. Amir says that our Pokemon can help protect us from mean adults.

**Entry 30 - August 19, 3599:** Learning how to battle is hard. Amir says to keep trying.

**Entry 31 - September 8, 3599:** I got caught by that fat jerk who owns the apple stand, but I got away! That was a close one.

**Entry 32 - September 9, 3599:** I think I’m getting the hang of battling. Ebony can do so many cool things. One day I’ll be a super awesome Pokemon trainer and go on a space adventure!

**Entry 33 - September 30, 3599:** I’m getting better at fixing Pokeballs. It’s really easy actually. The hardest part is finding them.

**Entry 34 - October 18, 3599:** They left me! The police found our hideout and they chased us. I fell down and Fareed left me for the police. How could he just leave me there?! They sent me back to the orphanage, but I ran away again. I can’t go back _there_. When I went back to the hideout everything was gone. Why would they leave me behind?

**Entry 35 - November 8, 3599:** I had to find a new place to live. The police would recognize me there. I found a box to live in for now. There’s no market but I found a restaurant that dumps extra food out the back at night. It’s better than garbage.

**Entry 36 - November 28, 3599:** I really don’t like being alone. Why did they have to leave me?

**Entry 37 - December 9, 3599:** I met a new Pokemon friend today. He’s an Espurr. He was all alone like me. I named him Loki.

**Entry 38 - December 15, 3599:** Today is my 11th birthday. I thought I wouldn’t have to spend anymore birthdays alone. At least I have my Pokemon. They won’t leave me like people do.

**Entry 39 - January 5, 3600:** Living alone is so hard. I miss the others.

**Entry 40 - January 26, 3600:** The restaurant closed. Now I don’t know where to find food.

**Entry 41 - February 16, 3600:** I hate being cold and hungry all the time! I need to find a new place to live.

**Entry 42 - February 20, 3600:** I can’t find a nice place to sleep anywhere. I can’t find much food either. No one wants to help me. Why is everyone so mean?

**Entry 43 - March 9, 3600:** I don’t know where I am anymore. There’s even less food here but I don’t know how to get back. I need food so badly.

**Entry 44 - March 31, 3600:** I don’t feel so good. Am I going to die?

**Entry 45 - April 9, 3600:** I’m in a monastery now. I don’t remember coming here. I just woke up here. A monk named Raj says he found me lying in the road. He says I had a really bad fever. I think I was dying. He saved me. He says I can stay here.

**Entry 46 - April 15, 3600:** I like it here. I have my own room! Much better than sleeping in alleys. And I don’t have to look for food anymore I don’t think the other monks like me very much but Raj says not to mind them.

**Entry 47 - April 20, 3600:** I don’t sleep well anymore. I have nightmares.

**Entry 48 - April 22, 3600:** I’m so lonely. I miss Neela and Amir and the others. Why did they have to leave me? The monks here aren’t very friendly, except for Raj, but he doesn’t understand.

**Entry 49 - May 27, 3600:** I’m sorry I haven’t been writing too much. I just feel sad all the time. Raj says he can teach me things. Maybe that will help...

**Entry 50 - June 10, 3600:** Raj has been teaching me all kinds of cool stuff. People came from the Tree of Knowledge which is why we can talk and make sciencey things. Pokemon came from the Tree of Life which is why they have cool powers!

**Entry 51 - June 16, 3600:** There’s lots of Pokeballs lying around the fields and forests near the monastery. Trainers can find more Pokemon here than in the city. I’ve been collecting them all! Maybe I can catch another Pokemon when I finish fixing them! Working on them has been helping some.

**Entry 52 - July 1, 3600:** People all used to live on one planet called Earth. I remember Dad mentioning it a few times. I wonder if that’s where the Tree of Knowledge is.

**Entry 53 - July 22, 3600:** I’ve been having a hard time again. Raj says maybe training Pokemon can help.

**Entry 54 - August 12, 3600:** Raj knows way more than Amir did about Pokemon. I know all about types and evolutions and all kinds of cool things! Pokemon training is so cool!

**Entry 55 - September 2, 3600:** One of the old monks died. I asked Raj what happens to people after they die and he said no one really knows. He said we shouldn’t feel sad and celebrate their life instead and be happy they returned to the Universe. Will anyone celebrate my life when I die? Will anyone care?

**Entry 56 - September 23, 3600:** I made my own Pokeball today! I learned how to do it all by myself! Isn’t that cool?

**Entry 57 - September 29, 3600:** I had another bad day. I didn’t leave my room at all today. I just want to stay in bed.

**Entry 58 - October 14, 3600:** I’m getting better at making Pokeballs. I have more than I can sell. Maybe I should try catching Pokemon. Maybe I need more Pokemon friends to make me feel better?

**Entry 59 - October 26, 3600:** I can’t catch any Pokemon. I’m not very good. I need to get better...

**Entry 60 - November 4, 3600:** Raj said that the ruins are left behind by Angels who lived a long time ago. He said that they left a lot of stuff behind. Is that what Dad was looking for?

**Entry 61 - November 21, 3600:** Raj has been teaching me more about battling so I can be better at catching Pokemon.

**Entry 62 - December 15, 3600:** I turned 12 today. Raj gave me a birthday present! I haven’t gotten many of those before. It was a dusk stone! It made Ebony evolve! She’s an Umbreon now! So cool!

**Entry 63 - January 12, 3601:** Ebony is so much better at battling now. Loki still needs work. I don’t think he’s much a fighter, but that’s okay.

**Entry 64 - February 9, 3601:** I did it! I met a new Pokemon friend in the woods today! He’s a Joltik! He’s so cute and fuzzy! I named him Okuma. Now I have three Pokemon friends!

**Entry 65 - March 6, 3601:** Okuma is pretty good at battles too. Ebony is still the best though.

**Entry 66 - April 2, 3601:** Raj hasn’t been able to teach me much lately. He’s busy doing monk things. That’s okay. I can train on my own now.

**Entry 67 - April 29, 3601:** I’ve been here for a whole year! It’s like a real home even though most of the other monks ignore me still. At least I have Raj.

**Entry 68 - May 27, 3601:** I got attacked by a scary Pokemon in the woods today. I thought it was evil but Raj says that Pokemon can’t be evil, only people. Maybe that’s why most of my friends are Pokemon.

**Entry 69 - June 24, 3601:** I learned how to make cool cases for Pokeballs. Now more People buy the Pokeballs I fix because they can do things normal ones can’t!

**Entry 70 - July 22, 3601:** Finding scrap metal to make Pokeball cases is hard. I wish there was somewhere to buy it near here.

**Entry 71 - July 28, 3601:** Raj has been so busy lately. I don’t like being alone so much. It feels like all the times before.

**Entry 72 - August 1, 3601:** Why do bad things always happen to me? Why does everyone leave me? Is there something bad about me? Even Raj doesn’t spend much time with me anymore. I hope he doesn’t leave like all the others.

**Entry 73 - August 14, 3601:** The nightmares have been coming back again. I can’t sleep well at all.

**Entry 74 - August 19, 3601:** I asked Raj why bad stuff always happens to me. He said that bad stuff happens around bad people. Maybe that’s why. Everyone left because they were bad people.

**Entry 75 - September 18, 3601:** I’ve been thinking about what Raj said. What if I’m a bad person? Everywhere I go bad stuff happens. I get hurt or people leave. Maybe it’s all my fault.

**Entry 76 - October 20, 3601:** Everything is my fault. Dad disappeared because of me. I know I was an accident. I shouldn’t have even been born. I’m bad luck for everyone. I should just die.

**Entry 77 - November 23, 3601:** I feel like crap all the time and I don’t feel like writing anything anymore.

**Entry 78 - December 15, 3601:** I’m officially a teenager now. I feel the same. Maybe worse.

**Entry 79 - January 18, 3602:** I stopped eating. I thought I could die that way but Raj made me eat. It’s not fair! I guess I have to do it myself.

**Entry 80 - February 4, 3602:** Goodbye. This will be the last time I write. Sorry.

**Entry 81 - February 16, 3602:** I can’t do anything right. I’m just a stupid girl who’s not even good enough to kill herself. I just want to die. Why can’t I?

**Entry 82 - February 20, 3603:** Raj is watching me all the time now. He won’t let me die. Why doesn’t he understand!?

**Entry 83 - March 4, 3602:** I tried again... Raj keeps telling me reasons to live. He keeps saying “there is no darkness without light” whatever that’s supposed to mean. I don’t know why he cares.

**Entry 84 - March 28, 3602:** I’m still alive. Raj and I sat on the roof of the tower all day. I was going to jump off but he stopped me… We sat and talked all day. He says he can help me get better. If I can’t die then I need to get better. I don’t want to live like this anymore. I don’t want to feel like dying all the time.

**Entry 85 - April 1, 3602:** Raj gave me a new Pokemon friend. He’s a Riolu. I named him Anubis. Raj is teaching me things again. He’s training me to meditate and stuff so I can drive the bad feelings away and stay in control. I’m not very good at it. How are you supposed to sit still for so long?

**Entry 86 - April 15, 3602:** I’m starting to feel better, There’s hope again. I will keep going. I have to.

**Entry 87 - April 22, 3602:** I think I understand what Raj meant. There’s always light, even when I feel completely surrounded in darkness. There’s always hope, even when it seems like I should give up. No more giving up.

**Entry 88 - May 2, 3602:** We’re getting stronger every day. I will take care of my Pokemon friends and they will take care of me.

**Entry 89 - May 29, 3602** : Raj says I should make goals for myself. I’m making Pokeballs again. I’m learning how to make new cases. I’m going to become a Pokeball expert! I’ll make the best Pokeballs!

**Entry 90 - June 20, 3602:** Sorry I’m not writing much. I’m busy focussing on training and making Pokeballs.

**Entry 91 - July 18, 3602:** Raj says that he will be leaving soon. He’s going on a pilgrimage. He’s going to travel the Galaxy for a while. I don’t want him to go. He’s going to leave me like everyone else, just like I thought. :(

**Entry 92 - July 30, 3602:** Raj says I should go on a journey of my own. He said to find a dream and chase it. I don’t know what to look for.

**Entry 93 - August 16, 3602:** I understand now that Raj isn’t leaving me. He’s just going away for a bit. Maybe I’ll see him again sometime. I’m leaving too. I know what I want to do now. I want to find out what happened to Dad.

**Entry 94 - August 17, 3602:** Raj and I said goodbye today. He gave me a necklace. It’s some religious symbol but I’ll wear it to remember him. I will never forget what he’s done for me.

**Entry 95 - August 20, 3602:** I don’t even know where to begin looking. Maybe if I go back home? I know we lived in a different city than the orphanage, but I don’t know where.

**Entry 96 - August 21, 3602:** I found an old article about Dad disappearing. It says he was living in Khirpai. That’s where I need to go. It’s far away though. I need to make more money to get there.

**Entry 97 - August 25, 3602:** I found a spooky abandoned building in the fields. It’s like an old house or something. I’ve decided to live in it until I can get to Khirpai.

**Entry 98 - September 3, 3602:** I’ve been making Pokeballs and selling them on the streets. I can make them for a lot cheaper than I can buy them. I can add cool cases and then sell them for the same price as the store. I almost have enough money to get out of here.

**Entry 99 - September 6, 3602:** There’s something in this house. Stuff keeps moving. I think it must be haunted! That’s so cool! I bet it’s a cool ghost Pokemon!

**Entry 100 - September 9, 3602:** I found the culprit! It was a Litwick! I caught her and now I have five Pokemon friends! I named her Lumiera. She’s super cute!

**Entry 101 - September 12, 3602:** I have enough money to get to Khirpai now. I leave tomorrow!

**Entry 102 - September 13, 3602:** I made it! The sun is always setting here. It’s so pretty! Now I just need to find where we used to live.

**Entry 103 - September 14, 3602:** Last night was the first night I’ve slept on the streets in a very long time. I don’t like it, but I spent all my money to get here :(

**Entry 104 - September 19, 3602:** I found our old home. It looks like it’s been abandoned this whole time. I guess no one moved in. I considered staying but there’s too many sad memories there. I did find some clues though. Just bits of Dad’s notes and research. I hope it helps.

**Entry 105 - October 15, 3602:** Sorry for not writing for a while. I’ve been trying to find a place to stay. I moved out into the Sunset Plains looking for more Pokeballs to work on. I found a ship! Well, half of one anyway. It looks like it crashed a long time ago. It’s my new home!

**Entry 106 - October 21, 3602:** I managed to start selling my custom Pokeballs again. Now I don’t need to steal food anymore.

**Entry 107 - October 31, 3602:** I’ve gone through all of Dad’s research that I found. He was looking for something called the Mirror when he disappeared. I wonder what it is. Did he ever find it?

**Entry 108 - November 5, 3602:** There’s lots of monks around this area. None of them have even heard of the Mirror. How am I supposed to find out what it is if no one knows!?

**Entry 109 - November 15, 3602:** There are ruins all over the plains! I’ve been exploring all around. There’s a big temple they’re working on digging up. There are lots of archaeologists like Dad was. Some of them say they knew him. They don’t have any clues for me either.

**Entry 110 - November 27, 3602:** It’s been a busy time for making Pokeballs. They opened the temple to tourists and a whole bunch come every day. They like my Pokeballs a lot.

**Entry 111 - December 3, 3602:** I made a new friend today! I named him Diablo. He’s a Houndour I found in an alley in Khirpai. He was eating trash. Trash is bad for you! I tried it once. He’s part of my family now and doesn’t have to eat trash anymore!

**Entry 112 - December 15, 3602:** I turned 14 today. I didn’t think I would make it this long.

**Entry 113 - January 1, 3603:** I wish I could have found more of Dad’s research. All I have to go on is the Mirror that know one’s heard of and the planet he vanished on. I need to go there!

**Entry 114 - January 10, 3603:** No one interesting comes to this planet. No one that can take me where I need to go, How am I supposed to find Dad if I can’t even get off this stupid planet!?

**Entry 115 - January 23, 3603:** I’ve been trying to think of what the Mirror could be. What if it trapped Dad in another dimension and he can’t get home? What if he’s trapped inside a mirror and can’t get out? He’s probably feeling bad that he wasn’t there for me. When I find him I can tell him it’s okay.

**Entry 116 - February 4, 3603:** It’s been a year… I was so _stupid_. The scars won’t let me forget that. I don’t think they’ll ever fade, They’ll always remind me how easy it is to give up. I can’t give up now, even if I’m stuck on this planet. I just need to remember what Raj always said.

**Entry 117 - February 13, 3603:** Tourists are stupid. They think I’m a tour guide when I’m snooping around the ruins. Easy money though.

**Entry 118 - February 28, 3603:** Khirpai is full of scumbags. At least I have Pokemon to fight them off. We need to train harder!

**Entry 119 - March 17, 3603:** I’ve been reading through more of Dad’s notes… He didn’t even want me! I already knew that, but this just makes it worse. Why should I look for him if he didn’t even care about me?! No… He’s probably stuck somewhere with nothing to do but think. I bet he’s thinking that he could have been a better dad… Maybe I should look after all…

**Entry 120 - March 30, 3603:** I think I need to give up the search for now… At least until I can get off this planet. I hope it will be soon.

**Entry 121 - May 8, 3603:** It’s been 10 years since Dad went missing… There was an article about him. It didn’t say much of anything I didn’t know already. But I know exactly where he went missing now. I’ll get there one day. I have to get there.

**Entry 122 - May 20, 3603:** Even though I can’t look for the Mirror yet, I can still train until then. That way I’ll be ready. All the tourists are good for training when I’m not giving tours.

**Entry 123 - July 5, 3603:** I figured out how to make even more cool cases. I found out how to put things other than Pokemon in Pokeballs! Not very large things yet but it’s something. This will be useful one day…

**Entry 124 - September 10, 3603:** Lumiera evolved today! She’s a Lampent now! I’m so excited. Apparently she needs a dusk stone to evolve again like Ebony did. I think I’m supposed to train her more before I do that though.

**Entry 125 - November 23, 3603:** Still no idea how I’m gonna get to the Mirror. Maybe I can hitch a ride to a different planet and then find someone to take me where I _actually_ want to go? But I doubt any of the tourists here would agree… I guess I need to wait longer…

**Entry 126 - December 15, 3603:** Another year passed… I’m 15 now. I’ve been alone so long now.

**Entry 127 - December 30, 3603:** Diablo evolved already. I guess he was already really strong when I found him. He has cool horns now! Houndooms are awesome!

**Entry 128 - January 20, 3604:** I hate not being able to do anything! I want to just give up. I can’t. I told myself I wouldn’t.

**Entry 129 - February 4, 3604:** It’s been 2 years now… I’m starting to feel like I did then. I feel so useless. I can’t let myself think this way.

**Entry 130 - March 2, 3604:** I’ve been fighting bad trainers in the city to keep my mind off things. I’m like a vigilante or something! It’s helping, I think.

**Entry 131 - March 8, 3604:** Anubis evolved today! They say that Riolu evolves when it’s friendly with its trainer. I guess after almost two years we’re super good friends!

**Entry 132 - March 20, 3604:** I got in a bad fight today. One of the bad guys got me in the face with a knife. I think it will leave a scar. If it wasn’t for Lumiera and Diablo… No. I can’t think like that. But I can’t keep fighting either.

**Entry 132 - April 3, 3604:** I saved a girl from a mugger today. He was tough, and so was his Pokemon, but Anubis and I are better! We kicked his ass! The girl’s name is Naomi and she’s my age. She says we can hang out.

**Entry 133 - June 1, 3604:** Sorry for not updating for a while. I’ve been hanging out with Naomi a lot. I forgot what it was like to have a friend my own age… I don’t think her dad likes me very much though… That doesn’t matter. This past month has been amazing.

**Entry 134 - June 8, 3604:** Naomi is so awesome! She always makes me feel better. She needs to know how much her friendship means to me.

**Entry 135 - June 10, 3604:** I showed Naomi around the ruins today. We just snuck in and it was like a private tour! I gave her Raj’s necklace to show her what she means to me, and I realized something; she’s more than a friend to me. I want to tell her but I don’t know if she even like girls… I didn’t even know I did until I met her… What should I do?

**Entry 136 - June 25, 3604:** Naomi and I went to see _Galactic Vanguards_ together. It was so good! Then she took me to this fancy restaurant with amazing food. That’s like a date or something, right? Does that mean she likes me too? I don’t know. I tried to tell her how I feel but I didn’t.

**Entry 137 - July 10, 3604:** I got a tattoo! I got one on my arm with that thing Raj always said. “There is no Darkness without Light.” I had him write it in Sinai because the letters are prettier. Now it will always be there to remind me when I lose hope.

**Entry 138 - July 25, 3604:** Every day with Naomi is so amazing. I’ve never felt like this before. Is this what love feels like? I wish I knew how to tell Naomi. I’m scared.

**Entry 139 - August 2, 3604:** I can picture a life with Naomi. I would give up so much to have that life. I would even give up looking for Dad for her.

**Entry 140 - August 8, 3604:** I ruined everything! Naomi’s gone forever! She said that her family is going back to Alliance space. I told her to take me with her, I told her what she means to me, but she didn’t feel the same! There’s someone else! And then I fucked everything up and now she never wants to see me again! What have I done?

**Entry 141 - August 20, 3604:** There’s nothing left for me anymore. Is this what a broken heart feels like? The only thing I have left to live for is the thought of finding Dad, but I can never do that If I can’t get off this damn planet! I think about ending it all the time, but Raj’s words always stop me. I don’t know how much longer I can do this.

**Entry 142 - September 4, 3604:** Every day’s the same. I’m just so lonely now and I can’t even do anything. There’s no reason to write at all anymore.

**Entry 143 - December 15, 3604:** I turned 16 today. Life still sucks. I’m trapped on this stupid planet and I’m all alone.

**Entry 144 - January 31, 3605:** It’s just getting worse and worse. I can’t keep living like this. I need to do _something_.

**Entry 145 - March 6, 3605:** I’ve got too many Pokeballs. I’ve been making them to keep myself occupied but I don’t know what to do with them all.

**Entry 146 - June 20, 3605:** I’m back to training now. Making all those Pokeballs was a bad idea. It’s not helping. Training does help though. Maybe I should try catching more Pokemon with all these Pokeballs. Pokemon are better friends than people anyway. Mine have always stuck with me.

**Entry 147 - September 1, 3605:** I’ve been thinking of trying to leave this damn planet again. There’s no reason left to stay anyway. I might try going to another city and see if I can find a better opportunity to leave.

**Entry 148 - October 12, 3605:** There’s an Absol that’s been running around the ruins in the plains lately. I’m going to try to catch it.

**Entry 149 - October 19, 3605:** I almost caught that Absol! It got away though. Next time!

**Entry 150 - October 29, 3605:** An important monk landed here. He went to that temple they’ve been digging up for the last few years. I thought he could be the one to get me off this planet but I never got the chance to talk to him or anything.

**Entry 151 - November 12, 3605:** I missed that Absol again! Just my luck.

**Entry 152 - November 16, 3605:** I’m low on Pokeball parts again. Tomorrow I need to go back into town to find scrap metal and junk to make more.

**Entry 153 - November 24, 3605:** I know it’s silly to rename this journal _again_ , but things have changed. I’m on a ship now and maybe I can finally make progress again. It wasn’t easy to get here. I had to sneak on board because they wouldn’t take me with them. But they say I can stay now.

**Entry 154 - November 25, 3605:** There was another space battle and I missed it! :(

**Entry 155 - November 26, 3605:** We’re in the middle of nowhere still. They’re still looking for this Gilgamesh guy. Why is he in the middle of nowhere?

**Entry 156 - November 28, 3605:** We landed on an ocean planet and went in a cave. I caught a giant sea monster!! And some other new friends too. The big one is Leviathan and then there’s Dynamo the Tynamo and Sparkles the Chinchou. I hope they get along with the others. Oh, and we also found Gilgamesh!

**Entry 157 - November 29, 3605:** I earned my first gym badge! We beat Gilgamesh in a battle and now I have a Warp Badge. It’s so shiny! Gilgamesh also gave me a thingy with information on the Mirror. Maybe it can help me find Dad?

**Entry 158 - November 30, 3605:** We were attacked by the mean Romanovs again (not the nice ones). Anubis almost died! I was so scared he would die! We need to get stronger! We will train every day!

**Entry 159 - December 1, 3605:** I tried to get the crew to tell me about what they’re doing but they barely told me anything. Something about a badass and a man-mime-Pokemon-thing. Not helpful!  >:(

**Entry 160 - December 4, 3605:** We went to München! So many fancy Pokeballs!!! I don’t have enough money for them… I can make cool stuff already but I was hoping I could study the fancy Genevan tech. I tried to get good TMs for my Pokemon but I don’t have enough gym badges apparently… I need to win more! I did get some new moves though.

**Entry 161 - December 5, 3605:** We went to Venezia! The food was so good!

**Entry 162 - December 9, 3605:** We rescued a scientist from bad guys! He made Inspector Gizmo apparently… Why does that meanie get to find his dad when I can’t? It’s not fair! I made the crew tell me everything! Blue has a magic tattoo he got from a Pokemon called Giratina and he can teleport and stuff! We’re on a mission to save the Galaxy! They said they would help me find the Mirror! We’re on our way to the planet where Dad went missing now… I hope I find something.

**Entry 163 - December 10, 3605:** The Romanov guy killed the man who murdered his Pokemon. He’s like a Pokemon Avenger or something! Pokemon killers are the **worst** people!

**Entry 164 - December 11, 3605:** The Mirrored Temple was evil! We should never have come here. I got their Pokemon killed! It’s all my fault! The Mirror is evil. It turns people into zombies or something! Why was Dad looking for it? I don’t want to know anymore, This isn’t how it was supposed to happen. :(((

**Entry 165 - December 12, 3605** : They don’t hate me. They said they were my family. I’ve never known what it means to have a real family. It feels good.

**Entry 166 - December 13, 3605** : I was on TV! We fought Jerome MacJabber, another gym leader! Lumiera and I won the fight! And the battle was on TV! I’ve always wanted to be on TV! Suck it Darzi Orphanage!

**Entry 167 - December 14, 3605:** The Mirrored Temple planet wasn’t all bad. I met new Pokemon friends there. There’s Kachina the Natu and Smugleaf the Snivy. They seem to get along with the others well..

**Entry 168 - December 15, 3605:** It’s my birthday today. Everyone is too busy to celebrate but that’s okay. We went back to Parisia. We’re trying to get passes to some conference or something.

**Enty 169 - December 16, 3605:** All this time on Parisia has given me time to figure out how to make a bunch of new Pokeballs! This will be so useful! I can’t wait to show everyone!

**Entry 170 - December 18, 3605:** We tricked a politician into giving us passes! Now we can go to the conference.

**Entry 171 - December 19, 3605:** Ms. Bossypants says we’re going to the place in the center of the Galaxy the Mirror pointed us to. I didn’t want to go because I was afraid of what I might find. She told me that I shouldn’t give up. I _won’t_ give up.

**Entry 172 - December 21, 3605:** I finally let Leviathan out of his ball today. I was afraid he would be too hard to control, but he listened to me. We trained for hours out in the rain. I need his help if we’re following the Mirror.

**Entry 173 - December 23, 3605:** We’re almost there. I don’t know what to expect.

**Entry 174 - December 24, 3605:** This place was even worse than the last one. The Mirror was built as a conduit for a Pokemon called Darkrai that drives people mad with their own fears! Something evil is behind all of this and controls Darkrai and all the Mirrors! We could have died! If not for Leviathan… There were no clues about Dad either… Where did he go?

**Entry 175 - December 25, 3605:** She tried to kill Pokemon? Why would she do that? Killing Pokemon is _**WRONG**_. Even the scary ones. I thought she understood that… :(

**Entry 176 - December 27, 3605:** We’re going to find the Gardner. I wonder what it is…

**Entry 177 - December 29, 3605:** Everything hurts. It’s my fault… I ran off on my own again. I’m so _**stupid**_! The good news is I made up with Morgan. She didn’t mean what she did, she was just scared. H is the worst! I **hate** him! He doesn’t care about anyone but himself and he treats everyone like shit.

**Entry 178 - December 31, 3605:** We went a Romanov planet called Prague and we found an golem made by the Angels. We tried to catch it, but that didn’t go so well. Oh well.

**Entry 179 - January 6, 3606:** I found a new friend today. He’s a Mareep. He’s so fluffy so I named him Fluffy. We rescued him from life on the farm. A new guy joined the crew too. His name is Bill. He’s another science person.

**Entry 180 - January 8, 3606:** We stopped at another planet today. It was pretty boring there, but we found some cool Pokemon fossils. I hear that they have cool technology to clone Pokemon from fossils in the Geneva Confederacy. That’s pretty neat.

**Entry 181 - January 9, 3606:** We’re back on Parisia again. We’re getting ready for the conference. It’s going to be weird to leave this ship for so long. I just got used to calling it home. I have a bad feeling.

**Entry 182 - January 17, 3606:** The conference started today. It opened with some battles and Loki evolved into Meowstic! I finally got to meet that Arlon guy. He does seem pretty badass after all. I got Shane into the system, but Lumiera got captured. We managed to get her back though. I was so worried!

**Entry 183 - January 18, 3606:** We found a bomb on the ship! The guy from New Germany had it. He also had the thing we came to find, but we took it!

**Entry 184 - January 19, 3606:** We’re the only ones who made it out… We escaped with Arlon and his crew on his ship… All those people… All those Pokemon… _**why?**_

**Entry 185 - January 20, 3606:** Lumiera and Loki could have died on that ship. If we hadn’t got them back when we did… I can’t be so careless. No one will _**EVER**_ take my friends away from me again.

**Entry 186 - January 21, 3606:** I told Morgan yesterday… I hope she doesn’t think of me differently...

**Entry 167 - January 22, 3606:** We went to a planet called Ventos today and I got to test out my new custom Pokeballs. I caught a Zigzagoon! I named him Rocket, _obviously_. I think I’ll watch _Galactic Vanguards_ again. I think I’ll feel better after.

**Entry 188 - January 23, 3606:** While the ship was on Parisia we had a machine installed. Bill says it can clone Pokemon from fossils. Isn’t that so cool? I gave him my fossils from that salty planet so he can use the machine to make Pokemon from them.

**Entry 189 - January 24, 3606:** We stopped at a forest planet called Märchenwald today. I caught a Venusaur! I named him Dozer because he was sleeping. A mean Spiritomb was feeding off his dreams but I rescued him! Shane caught the Spiritomb. I hope he makes it behave. >:(

**Entry 190 - January 25, 3606:** We went to another big city planet called Nerva today. I caught a Snorunt in the park! Then Morgan sold me her dawn stone so I could evolve her into a Froslass. I named her Elsa.

**Entry 191 - January 26, 3606:** My new fossil friends are ready! There’s Shen (she’s a Shellder) and Coele (she’s a Relicanth), Science is so cool!

**Entry 192 - January 27, 3606:** We met with Mr. Silver… He’s like Starnet! An evil AI (not like Shane)! He’s going to wipe out all life in the Galaxy! We need to stop him!

**Entry 193 - January 28, 3606:** We’re going to Mr. Silver’s secret base! It’s time to stop him!

**Entry 194 - January 29, 3606:** This place is evil!! They did horrible things here… How could they do such horrible things!? We need to get out of here! I don’t want to know what’s behind that door. My hands are shaking. If I die today… I’m sorry I won’t be able to write anymore.

**Entry 195 - January 30, 3606:** _**We’re all going to die.** _

**Entry 196 - February 1, 3606:** We went deep into the Void to escape that monster. Then we met Giratina. The others had seen that thing before. It made my head hurt… It just like messed with Space. Then we ended up back at Vandia somehow. Shane brought us here. I got to go back and get my stuff from home. Now we’re on our way to meet some guy called Hondo.

**Entry 197 - February 2, 3606:** Gilgamesh died… I only met him once, but he was nice. :( He was working with Hondo and this Rodriguez soldier guy to find some kind of super powerful artifact thing called the Eye of Aether but they failed and he died and another person was captured. Then the station we just met on got attacked and then we boarded the ship and stole some information and rescued the captured person. Her name is Meta and she’s _really_ good with computers. We also fought another cyborg-man like H called I. I is bad, and I’m scared that he can control H somehow. At least we got away… What a crazy couple of days...

**Entry 199 - February 3, 3606:** As if yesterday wasn’t crazy enough already… I thought H was going to betray us, so I tried to kill him. I failed… It turns out Meta was a spy. I (the evil robot-man, not me) **put a bomb** _ **in her head**_ and forced her to steal from us! She seriously hurt Minerva and then escaped! Leviathan damaged the escape pod and forced her to crash here on Harmonia. Then Shane and I barely landed the _Helix_. Lucky for us, Arlon and the Red Suns have a base here and helped us catch Meta! We took the bomb out of Meta’s head and now she’s part of our crew. I don’t know what we’re going to do about H, though. He was going to betray us two and he _doesn’t_ have a bomb in his head. Why am I the only one worried about this?

**Entry 200 - February 4, 3606:** Minerva isn’t doing so well… She might not make it…

**Entry 201 - February 6, 3606:** Minerva is improving! She woke up! They say they will release her in a few days but Morgan thinks it’s too soon.

**Entry 202 - February 9, 3606:** Harmonia blew up! That monster showed up again and ripped it all to pieces! But I found Naomi again! I can’t believe I found her again! She told me leaving was a mistake and now we can be together. Then her stupid jerk dad showed up and tried to take her away. That’s when the monster came… If we didn’t go to Harmonia when we did… At least she’s safe with me now. I don’t know why H brought her dad with us, though.

**Entry 203 - February 11, 3606:** I don’t know how to explain. Morgan, Shane, Dmitri, H, and I were transported to this crazy place full of ghost Pokemon! There were other people there but they all died. But they all came back as zombies! It was like some weird ghost ship that kept changing, and there was this creepy girl who kept sending her Pokemon after us. I was so terrified, but we beat her and then somehow we were back on the _Helix_ and we all had a new badge and some rare candies. It couldn’t have been a dream…

**Entry 204 - February 12, 3606:** Everything’s been so crazy lately. The Galaxy is falling apart and I almost lost Naomi right after I found her again… I feel like I’m losing my mind.

**Entry 205 - February 13, 3606:** I talked to Naomi about _everything_. This is real. This is really happening. I never want to be apart from her again. And we don’t have to worry about her stupid dad either. Arlon took him away and he didn’t even notice his own daughter didn’t go with him. He clearly doesn’t _really_ care about her. But that’s what she’s got me for.

**Entry 205 - February 14, 3606:** We’re on our way to kick I’s ass and take the Eye from him!

**Entry 206 - February 15, 3606:** Why is my life so full of pain? It wasn’t supposed to be this way. When I found Dad I was supposed to save him, but he just… Now he’s gone… How could he do this to me? He made me want to die again. I tried but Naomi stopped me. I can’t die. She needs me. I will stay alive for her. For all my friends. H and I even set aside our differences. All the Mewtwos are waking up but we can stop them. We’re going to save this Galaxy.

**Entry 207 - February 16, 3606:** We went to this planet called Jötunheimr and found a man frozen in stasis. We got attacked by these big ice statue things and I caught one of them. I gave it to Morgan though. She gave me the Cryogonal she caught for it. Then we woke the dude up and it turns out that he’s Adám, the man from the Bible stories. He’s actually real? I can’t believe it. Something happened to Lumiera during the fight though. I had her protect Morgan’s Charizard but she got hit by a really cold attack and now her flames are gone. It’s all my fault. I don’t know how to fix her. :(

**Entry 208 - February 17, 3606:** We went back for the Eye. Shane moved the whole station to Sector 25! That’s crazy. But then we learned that Arlon died… I didn’t know him very well but I think he was a good person. He died to kill a Mewtwo.

**Entry 209 - February 18, 3606:** We got help for all the people and Pokemon I was studying. I don’t want them to end up like Dad. Maybe we can find a way to fix them. We kept some of the Pokemon that seemed okay. I have a Magmar now. I don’t know what to name him.

**Entry 210 - February 19, 3606:** Adám told us about the first cycle. His cycle. It’s just like in the Bible… but _different_. Humans and Pokemon were made by the Mewtwos to grow together but Adám’s son Cain ruined everything. He killed his own partner. What a monster. It’s his fault the Mewtwos want to kill us all! We just need to show them that we’re not all like Cain. I understand now. We need to give up the power we have. Shane actually returned his power to Giratina and now his magic tattoo is gone. I want to be like Adám. He has a strong bond with his Pokemon and doesn’t need a Pokeball. What if I release my power over my Pokemon? Would they stay with me?

**Entry 211 - February 20, 3606:** I talked to Adám about all this stuff that I’ve learned. I can’t believe the stories are true. The monks didn’t have it all right, but they were close. I believe those stories now, more than ever. Adám also said there was a time when bad things didn’t happen to good people. It sounds like Cain is the reason for that. Not even Raj could tell me that… It was all so overwhelming, but Naomi’s here to help me. I couldn’t do any of this without her. She even found something that might fix Lumiera. We need to find a fire temple, whatever that is. We’ll find it together. I gave her some Pokemon to protect her since she only has Neko. I gave her that Magmar from the station and the Cryogonal that Morgan gave me and Sparkles, Smugleaf, and Kachina. I know she will take good care of them and they will take care of her.

**Entry 212 - February 21, 3606:** I made a new Pokeball. It doesn’t control Pokemon the way others do. I released Ebony from hers. Nothing’s changed. Our bond is so strong. We’ll show the Mewtwos how strong it is!

**Entry 214 - February 22, 3606:** So much is happening. Trying to save the Galaxy is hard work. We were meeting with the Federation head honchos and H stormed off and he was mad at everyone for wanting to give up power but we convinced him to keep working with us but then he tried to kill Adám but not really because he was just testing him because he’s crazy like that so then it all worked out and we made a plan with the Federation. We’re going to make warp bombs but we need help from the Romanovs. Hopefully they can stop being assholes because the Galaxy is in trouble. I hope they understand that. We’re on the way to their capital now.

**Entry 215 - February 23, 3606:** Naomi made love to me. I feel so _alive_. Our love is the realest thing I’ve ever felt. I want to feel like this forever. I want to spend the rest of my life with her.

**Entry 216 - February 24, 3606:** Some asshole Romanov Admiral ripped us off. He extorted the hell out of us to set up a meeting with the stupid Supreme Admiral. We showed him though. We hid away a lot of money so he couldn’t have it. He can go fuck himself.

**Entry 217 - February 25, 3606:** The Supremacists are power hungry assholes! They just try to take all this shit that doesn’t belong to them! I hate that we have to work with them. I _hate_ it! We got them to work with us but we have to give up all this shit. It’s fucking bullshit.

**Entry 218 - March 1, 3606:** I’m training hard with my Pokemon every day until the Mewtwos show up. I’m helping Naomi too. That way she can have strong Pokemon to protect her too.

**Entry 219 - March 4, 3606:** Dynamo evolved today. My main Pokemon are so strong now so I’ve been working with the others too. He’s an Eelektrik now! It’s so cool! Naomi’s Pokemon are evolving too. Sparkles, Smugleaf, and Kachina all evolved too! She’s taking such good care of them.

**Entry 220 - March 9, 3606:** Things have been so hectic lately. We’re building up the biggest fleet anyone’s ever seen. It’s so crazy. I’ve been releasing all my Pokemon. They all stayed with me. Now there’s just Leviathan… I don’t know what to do. I know he won’t listen to me if I do and I need his help.

**Entry 221 - March 10, 3606:** Adám helped me commune with Leviathan. Now we understand each other. Leviathan agreed to help me if I let him go, but after this is all done I have to bring him home. I don’t want him to go but I know it’s what I have to do.

**Entry 222 - March 11, 3606:** I’s coming for us now. He made himself into a Mewtwo somehow! He must be like Cain but he helped Mr. Silver make the Mewtwos. I don’t understand.

**Entry 223 - March 12, 3606:** We did it… We survived somehow. All the Mewtwos attacked but we did it. But… Leviathan… They killed him. I failed him. I promised I would take him home! It’s not fair! He didn’t deserve to die! At least he didn’t die in vain… We convinced the Mewtwos to give Humanity a chance and we kicked I’s cybernetic ass. Now we have 50 years to prove ourselves.

**Entry 224 - March 13, 3606:** The Supremacy is impossible! We saved the Galaxy and they’re right back to being assholes. I told the Supreme Admiral to give back the territory they stole because it would show the Mewtwos that we’re on the right track but he didn’t listen!

**Entry 225 - March 14, 3606:** Everything is so different now. We’re back to traveling around like we used to but it’s just different. The Galaxy is new and exciting again but at the same time it feels kinda sad in a way. I don’t know how to explain it. At least we all have each other. One big family.

**Entry 226 - March 16, 3606:** I want to take Leviathan back to Messina to lay him to rest. He deserves that much. It’s in Supremacy territory so it’s gonna take a bit.

**Entry 227 - March 19, 3606:** Somehow the Federation did it. I guess we get a free pass this time for saving the Galaxy. I returned Leviathan to the sea. I will miss him… I wish he could have lived to see his home again. Now I have to do the same for Dad.

**Entry 228 - March 20, 3606:** Dynamo evolved again. I took a big electric crystal from Messina and it worked just like a thunder stone on him. He’s a badass Eelektross now!

**Entry 229 - March 24, 3606:** We went back to Vandia again. It’s been such a busy week. I arranged Dad’s funeral and stuff. It was way overdue. I don’t know if it’s what he would have wanted, but I did the best I could for him. I got to see Raj again. He finally came back from his pilgrimage. I missed him so much. I told him all about what I’ve been doing since he left. He says he’s proud of me. I’ll try to come back and visit again.

**Entry 230 - March 29, 3606:** We’re starting a new mission now. Dmitri and I are going to destroy all the Mirrors! All of them! No one will have to go through what we did.

**Entry 231 - April 2, 3606:** We went back to that first Mirrored Temple and blew its Mirror up! Now we’re try to figure out all the locations from the holoscroll Gilgamesh gave me.

**Entry 232 - April 15, 3606:** We’re slowly working through the Mirrors as we determine their locations. We’ve destroyed a lot now but we’ve got so many more to go. Naomi and I are also searching for that fire temple still. We’re getting close, I can feel it!

**Entry 233 - April 17, 3606:** I got a new tattoo today. We stopped on a planet called Bellataine to get supplies and there was a tattoo parlor right there. I got it all down my arm, a tattoo of Leviathan. It hurts a lot but it’s so beautiful and it will be my way of honoring him.

**Entry 234 - April 28, 3606:** We’ve destroyed most of the Mirrors now. There’s just a few more left. We need to get rid of the Mirror Planet too. We’re trying to get the Federation to help with that.

**Entry 235 - May 5, 3606:** We got em all! Now we need to go back to the galactic core. The Federation is gonna help with that but it’ll be a bit longer. We’re making another stop before we go. Naomi and I found something worth checking out.

**Entry 236 - May 7, 3606:** The temple we found wasn’t the fire temple but there was a map that will show us where it is! I know it!

**Entry 237 - May 8, 3606:** We’re back at the Mirror Planet now. We’re just waiting for the Federation fleet to do their thing. They’re gonna blow it up! It’s such a tiny planet that they can do that!

**Entry 238 - May 12, 3606:** The Mirror Planet went boom!By destroying it, we freed Darkrai from its prison. Dmitri gave his power back too! Now our mission is complete.

**Entry 239 - May 20, 3606:** We decoded the map! Fire temple, here we come!

**Entry 240 - May 22, 3606:** Lumiera is finally back to normal! We went to the temple and we found the fire plate just like Naomi said! H wanted to study it but I knew I had to fix Lumiera! All the energy in the plate got absorbed into her and her flames came back! I promised I would fix her and this time I could keep my word. I gave H what was left to study.

**Entry 241 - May 30, 3606:** Naomi is looking at schools now. She’s really smart and she had all these fancy tutors and stuff growing up so I think she can go wherever she wants. She wants to be a journalist. That’s so cool!

**Entry 242 - June 5, 3606:** Naomi found her dream school! The University of Avalon. Avalon is a big Federation city planet! Naomi says it’s one of the best schools in the Federation. She sent in an application. She thinks it’s a slim chance but I _know_ she can get in.

**Entry 243 - June 8, 3606:** Adám left us. He and Eve are going to go explore the Galaxy. We gave him Gilgamesh’s old meditation sphere. Hondo still had it so he let us take it. I wish Adám the best of luck.

**Entry 244 - June 29, 3606:** Naomi heard back from the university already! That was so fasst! She got in! They really want her it seems. Naomi thinks it’s because of me.

**Entry 245 - July 3, 3606:** Things are going to change. Naomi’s leaving for school next month and I’m gonna go with her. I told everyone else and they understand. It’s going to be so different from now on.

**Entry 246 - July 23, 3606:** We’re going to all kinds of cool places while we can! I haven’t had the time to sit down and write for a while. I’m starting to think about stopping. I’ve been writing this journal for over 10 years now. It helped me get through so many tough times but I don’t think I need it anymore. I changed the name to _Helix_ Log so I’ll finish logging my time on the _Helix_.

**Entry 247 - August 1, 3606:** We’re on this planet called Gratian Prime now. It’s another big city planet. It’s our last stop before we go to Avalon. I got another tattoo already. Since I’ll be leaving the _Helix_ soon I got an Omanyte shell on my shoulder just like the one painted on the ship. Tomorrow is Naomi’s birthday and I need to get her something. I don’t know what to get.

**Entry 248 - August 2, 3606:** Naomi turned 18 today! We’re still on Gratian Prime so I took her to this fancy restaurant. We went shopping and everything for fancy clothes and stuff. I wanted to wear something nice for Naomi, but she looked even nicer. She’s so beautiful. I also bought her this pretty bracelet. I gave it to her at dinner and she really liked it! Today was a good day.

**Entry 249 - August 3, 3606:** We’re on Avalon now. We’re staying here on the _Helix_ for a while while Naomi and I look at apartments.

**Entry 250 - August 10, 3606:** We found the place! We bought it on the spot! I’ve never owned an apartment before.

**Entry 251 - August 11, 3606:** This is it. My last entry. I’ve changed so much since I started this journal. It’s hard to believe how far I’ve come. From a runaway orphan to a galactic hero and now I’m here living with the girl of my dreams. All the struggles were worth it to get here. We all went out to dinner to celebrate the time we spent together on the _Helix_. It was an amazing time. I may be leaving them now, but I will never forget them and I will keep in contact with them because they’re my family.


End file.
